‘Right to choose Government is a right to disagree with present Government’

Bombay High Court judge Gautam Patel highlights importance of dissent on Constitution Day

Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court spoke about dissent on the Constitution Day and said, “There is a need to do away with terms like “ruling party”, as we are “governed” and “ruled”.

In a virtual discussion titled “Undermining the Idea of India: The Way Forward”, Justice Patel said, “It is time we get rid of this colonial linguistic baggage. The right to choose a Government is a right to disagree with the present Government. It is a right to dissent. Because the Constitution compels us to choose every five years, it then becomes a duty and not just a right, so we must do away with terms like ‘ruling party’.”

The talk was hosted by The Leaflet, a legal news website, where Justice Patel spoke about dissent. He said, “The first self-preserving strategy is to criminalise dissent. Another attempt to muzzle dissent is coming from a different quarter — a civil servant has recently said the fourth front of war is coming from ‘Civil Society’. As critics have pointed out what is ‘Civil Society’? Is it in contrast to an uncivil society? Does it include journalists, lawyers, bureaucrats, judges? Are judges a threat to the Government? Ideas are dangerous and ideas are also bulletproof. So is the Constitution of India.”