'Arbitrary power thrives on ignorance, fear', says Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has said that “arbitrary power thrives on ignorance, fear and unexamined belief”, arguing that a scientific temper is one of the foundations of the rule of law.

He was speaking on Saturday at the 12th convocation of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya. “A society that fears questions becomes vulnerable to authoritarianism,” he told the graduates. “A society that accepts claims without evidence is susceptible to superstitious beliefs.”

Pointing to Article 51A of the Constitution, which lists developing a scientific temper among every citizen’s fundamental duties, Justice Bhuyan said it was not the preserve of scientists. “Scientific temper or temperament is not confined to or developed in laboratories or scientific institutions,” he said.

Science and law as partners

He drew a line between the two disciplines. “Science is the art of reasoning, so also is law. Science is evidence based, so also is law,” he said. The Constitution, in his telling, carried India from a feudal and unequal society towards a forward-looking one. “Therefore, science and law are partners in the constitutional journey of our republic.”

‘Us’ and ‘they’

Justice Bhuyan also warned against dividing the country into camps. “Because of competing claims and societal conflicts we easily fall into the trap of exclusiveness,” he said. “The Constitution does not address only one section of India.” He said the Preamble’s opening words, “We, the People of India”, should take the place of “us” and “they”, and that the Constitution seeks “to restore unity without demanding uniformity”.

He closed by urging the graduates to separate “the grain from the chaff” while defending open access to knowledge. “We can have an informed citizenry only when there is access to information,” he said. “Therefore, information is the key.”