On April 8, when the Supreme Court delivered a landmark verdict in Tamil Nadu vs Governor of Tamil Nadu, it once again laid bare fundamental questions about India’s federal structure, the limits of gubernatorial discretion and who ultimately decides when a constitutional office has overstepped its bounds. The apex court invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, which equip it to pass a decree or order to “do complete justice”. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, whose stint as governor in West Bengal regularly pitted him against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, promptly denounced Article 142 as a “nuclear missile against democratic forces”.