Bengaluru, March 23 -- Supreme Court judge justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Sunday said that incarceration of citizens for dissent, and continuing atrocities against Dalits "cannot be a model of Viksit Bharat".

Speaking at the Supreme Court Bar Association's (SCBA) conference in Bengaluru on the judiciary's role in Viksit Bharat, Justice Bhuyan said, "While the government's vision of Viksit Bharat, or, a developed India by 2047 is laudable and achievable, economic growth cannot come at the cost of civil liberties and dignity."

"In Viksit Bharat, there should be more space for dissent and debate. Dissent cannot be criminalised," he said, warning against the growing tendency to invoke criminal law in response to protests, student movements, and ev...