Maintaining that majoritarianism is antithesis of democracy, Justice Deepak Gupta of the Supreme Court today said dissent was essential in a democracy and even judges should be open to criticism.

“In case we attempt to stifle criticism of the institutions whether it be the legislature, executive or the judiciary or other bodies of the state, we shall become a police state instead of a democracy and this the founding fathers never expected this country to be,” Justice Gupta said.

“In a democracy like ours where we have elections based on the first past the post principle, the government in most cases does not represent the majority of the population, and often not even the voting electorate. Therefore, when those in power claim that they represent the will of all people that is more often than not a totally baseless claim.

They may be the elected government voted on the first past the post system by a large number of voters, but it cannot be said they represent the entire will of the people,” he noted.

Noting that dissent is essential in a democracy, Justice Gupta said, “If a country has to grow in a holistic manner where not only the economic rights, but also the civil rights of the citizen are to be protected, dissent and disagreement have to be permitted, and in fact, should be encouraged. It is only if there is discussion, disagreement and dialogue that we can arrive at better ways to run the country.”

He said there could be no democracy without dissent. Quoting Justice DY Chandrachud, he said, “The blanket labelling of dissent as anti-national or anti-democratic strikes at the heart of our commitment to protect constitutional values and the promotion of deliberative democracy.”