Right to dissent: A judge’s reminder

A few years ago, a speech of a Supreme Court judge or any other luminary made at a congregation of students highlighting the need to protect constitutional values and the importance of dissent in a democracy would have gone unnoticed. Many generations of students have heard such talks which are considered routine expositions of the common tenets of democracy. But when Justice D Y Chandrachud of the Supreme Court told a convocation of the Gujarat National Law University that citizens have the right to protest and dissenters cannot be called anti-nationals, his views hit the national headlines. That is because the judge’s views have a special relevance in these times when those who oppose the government’s policies and actions are dubbed anti-nationals and traitors, and protesters are punished with penalties and police violence. The atmosphere of intolerance and the rising threat to the pluralistic traditions of the country may have prompted the judge to make his comments. He made this clear when he said that “what is of utmost relevance today is our ability and commitment to preserve, conserve and build on the rich pluralistic history we have inherited.’’

Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act are suppressed, and protesters are demonised. The argument advanced by government leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that a law made by Parliament should not be opposed has found a reasoned counter in Justice Chandrachud’s assertion that citizens have the right to express themselves and express dissent against “prevailing laws.’’ The suppression of the rights and freedoms of people in Kashmir and other parts of the country, especially the choking of freedom of expression, preventive detentions and sedition cases against critics and dissenters and the legitimisation and acceptance of hatred and divisiveness as State policy are all against the basic canons of democracy. Justice Chandrachud has done a great service to the nation by underlining these principles and reminding the nation of their value when they are under severe stress.

Judgments of courts have also asserted and reiterated many times the importance of these principles which inhere in the Constitution and have held the country together and sustained its democracy. The Bombay High Court said last week that persons holding peaceful protests against a particular law cannot be termed as traitors or anti-nationals. The court’s observation that “our Constitution has given us rule of law and not rule of majority’’ is also significant when a majority in Parliament is claimed to give legitimacy to any bad decision taken by the government. The court also did well to issue the warning that the denial of the rights of people will result in violence and chaos and ultimately endanger the unity of the country.