Just because institutions have power to do something, should they do it?

The real problem is not that govts behave badly. It's that they can behave badly. There are virtually no constitutional restrictions on their conduct

If you ask any Indian government why they use the governors to go after state governments or why they start sniping at the judiciary, the reply will be “because we can.” But just because you can, must you do it?

This question has been asked of Indian governments since 1951 when the then government amended the Constitution — the first amendment — because it could. That amendment placed “reasonable” restrictions on the freedom of speech. Reasonable was not defined.

Thus, that government did what it did because it could. Subsequently many governments have done whatever they have done because they