Right to question not defiance, every dissent not a threat: SC judge

Supreme Court judge Ujjal Bhuyan emphasized the importance of a constitutional democracy that listens to citizens, offers space for dissent, and treats dissent as not a threat. He spoke at a convocation ceremony at National Law University, Delhi, highlighting that the right to question is an essential expression of citizenship, liberty, and constitutional responsibility.

Bhuyan asserted that a democratic society respecting liberty and difference should begin in universities, where free thinking and asking difficult questions should be encouraged. India's Constitution guarantees free speech, thinking, and believing differently; intolerance undermines that framework when disagreement is treated as something that must be silenced, rejected, or punished.

Bhuyan noted that a mature democracy responds to unpopular or inconvenient opinions by providing space for dissent, quoting Justice O Chinnappa Reddy's 1986 Bijoe Emmanuel case judgment. He stressed that tolerance does not ask individuals to surrender their individuality, recognizing that a free society would contain different opinions, beliefs, and ways of looking at the world.