Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has delivered a pointed critique of the erosion of civil liberties in India, warning that the public space for expressing divergent opinions is shrinking and that courts are sometimes complicit in restricting fundamental freedoms.
Speaking at the 4th Justice G.P. Singh Memorial Lecture organised by the National Law Institute University in Bhopal, Justice Bhuyan said students protesting on campuses are being arrested and denied bail for 30 to 40 days, then suspended, forcing them to approach courts for relief. “Right to express one’s views and right to demonstrate peacefully are fundamental freedoms of citizens. Debate and dissent are the essence of democracy,” he said.
He cited the case of a group of young people who organised an Iftar party on a boat on the Ganga river and were jailed for three months. “I am sure consuming chicken biryani is not an offence. There is no law prohibiting consumption of chicken over the Ganga river. Can people be arrested and denied bail for three months for such an activity?” he asked.
He also raised the case of a person who posted on Facebook criticising a minister who had called a serving Indian Army officer a daughter of a terrorist. An FIR was lodged against the person. When bail was granted, the court asked him to deposit his passport and barred him from posting on Facebook, conditions Justice Bhuyan described as self-censorship imposed by courts themselves.