Justice Bhuyan: Right to question is essential in democracy, not defiance

'In a democracy, the right to question is not an act of defiance.': Justice Bhuyan

NEW DELHI: In a constitutional democracy like India, govt must listen to citizens, give space for dissent, and have institutions that are accountable to society and do not treat every dissent as a threat, Supreme Court judge Ujjal Bhuyan said on Sunday. "In a democracy, the right to question is not an act of defiance. It is an essential expression of citizenship, liberty and constitutional responsibility," Justice Bhuyan said at a convocation ceremony at National Law University, Delhi. "If we want a democratic society that respects liberty and difference, that culture has to begin somewhere. It can only begin in our universities. A university... should be one of the first places where the habit of thinking freely begins," he said. "A university should be a space where an idea is not accepted merely because it is familiar and where students do not hesitate to ask difficult questions simply because the answer may be uncomfortable," Justice Bhuyan said. He said India’s Constitution guarantees free speech, thinking and believing differently. "Intolerance begins to undermine that framework when disagreement or dissent is no longer treated as a legitimate difference of opinion but as something that must be silenced, rejected or punished. The ability to live with disagreement is not merely a social virtue. It is the very essence of a liberal constitutional democracy." Justice Bhuyan said maturity of a democracy is reflected not merely in how it treated opinions that are popular, having the majoritarian mandate, but also in how it responds to opinions that are difficult, unpopular or inconvenient. "The freedom to express an opinion, to disagree with the prevailing view and to participate in public life would be meaningful only when there is space for dissent," he added.

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He quoted Justice O Chinnappa Reddy’s 1986 judgment in Bijoe Emmanuel case, in which the judge had said, "Our tradition teaches tolerance; our philosophy preaches tolerance; our constitution practises tolerance; let us not dilute it." He pointed out that tolerance under our Constitution does not ask us to surrender our individuality. "It recognises that a free society would contain different opinions, beliefs and ways of looking at the world," he said.

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