The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. More than 150 people have already died due to the record-breaking temperatures that have hit India over the last two weeks, although there is hope for some respite.
2. Former liquor baron Vijay Mallya told the Supreme Court that banks do not have the right to seek information about his overseas assets.
3. Hit by litigation over its use of water, the Board for Control of Cricket in India has said that it may consider moving the Indian Premier League abroad next year.

The Big Story: Uphill Climb

The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday set aside the order imposing President's Rule in the state, dealing a major blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party right ahead of the second half of the Budget Session of Parliament. The court said that President's Rule had been imposed contrary to law. It has instead cautioned the Centre against trying to form a government and ordered the Congress government to prove its majority on the floor of the house on April 29.

The order came after an attempt to pass the Appropriations Bill in the Uttarakhand Assembly led to disagreements, since it appeared that a majority of Members of Legislative Assembly actually opposed the Budget. The Congress-led government then came under threat after nine of its MLAs became rebels, and the BJP approached the governor as it staked its claim to government formation.

While the Assembly was kept in suspended animation and President's Rule was imposed, the Speaker also suspended the nine rebel MLAs, leading to two legal challenges. The first has now been decided – President's Rule was apparently illegal, although the Centre aims to challenge it in the Supreme Court.

The second part is still not settled: The question of whether the nine rebel MLAs are actually disqualified, which the Uttarakhand High Court will hear on Saturday. If the rebels are permitted to remain in the Assembly, the Congress government may yet fall, but if the BJP loses yet another court battle and their suspension stands, Chief Minister Harish Rawat's government could be back.

Amidst all of this, there is the little matter of the second half of the Budget session of Parliament, which will return to work on Monday. Expect plenty of disruptions.

Politicking & Policying
1. Iran said it will "accurately" investigate the Kulbhushan Jadhav case and would not be going by Pakistan's claims that the businessman was an Indian agent out to destabilise Balochistan.
2. The Bharatiya Janata Party might be all set to fill up its nominated Rajya Sabha vacancies, with Malayali film star Suresh Gopi set to go to the Upper House. Other names include Subramanian Swamy, Swapan Dasgupta, Mary Kom and Navjot Singh Sindhu, according to the Times of India.
3. DNA speculates that the flurry of political activity in Lucknow could mean elections in Uttar Pradesh will take place this year, rather than the scheduled slot in 2017.
4. Reports suggest that sexual harassment accused RK Pachuari's contract with The Energy Research Institute has been terminated.

Punditry
1. After having spent seven years in Delhi's Tihar jail, Kobad Ghandy, in the Indian Express, writes about socio-economy of crime.
2. Karti Sandilya in the Business Standard thinks that the way to lower needless emotive political temperature is by admitting that India is a Hindu nation, with a lot of non Hindus.
3. The possibilities of a forward movement for Bengal seems greater under a chastened TMC than under a curious Left-Congress dispensation, writes Swapan Dasgupta in the Telegraph, without mentioning the BJP.

Don't Miss
Alok Gupta writes of the difficulty of disposing animal carcasses as vultures disappear.

"This means that the natural solution – vultures – for disposing of carcasses along the Ganga will not be available anytime soon. Chandra and his volunteers carried out a survey and found that around 300 carcasses and corpses are dumped in the Ganga every day in Bihar, and submitted their findings to the court. The answer has been the “electric vulture”, or more prosaically, the establishment of an electric crematorium to dispose of the bodies."