New Delhi: Justice Deepak Gupta of the Supreme Court on Monday said that suppression of dissent has a chilling effect on democracy. Gupta was sharing his views on ‘Democracy and Dissent’ at the inaugural lecture of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
His comments come at a time of unrest due to violent protests in the national capital against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens and National Population Register.
Emphasising on how the Constitution of India needs to be interpreted in accordance with the changing times, Justice Gupta said: “Views on any subject cannot remain constant. The meaning of every word in the Constitution needs to be given an interpretation as time progresses. It needs to be made workable in current times.”
He also called for an impartial decision-making process in the judiciary, and called on everyone to not see dissent from the prism of revolting against the government.
Read his full speech here: