Lord John Dalberg Acton had said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He said this in 1887.

Today, it can be said that power also brings about arrogance, and absolute power brings about absolute arrogance. Along with arrogance comes contempt for dissenting voices. This has been observed in India, the United States and many other countries.

Until now, the contempt for a dissenting voice was confined to the voices of those in the political or social arena. Many of those whose views are unacceptable to those in power have faced physical attacks and have been haunted by government agencies or by fabricated cases. Now contempt for a dissenting judiciary is reflected in a big way.

In school we have been taught that legislative bodies are the seat of democracy, where members have the freedom to speak without fear. But that has remained on paper, as elected representatives who disagree with those in power are not allowed to air their views in the legislative bodies, either by the ruling party members or by the presiding officers. This is proportional to the level of the legislative bodies; the higher one goes, the stronger the controls.

Shouting down members of the opposition by the ruling party members is a common practice. When they fail, the presiding officers take over and silence........

© Free Press Journal