4th Justice G P Singh Memorial Lecture: Consuming chicken biryani no offence… dissent essence of democracy, says Justice Bhuyan

4 min readNew DelhiJul 26, 2026 05:23 AM IST Saying that there was “no law prohibiting consumption of chicken over the Ganga river”, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court on Saturday criticised the arrest of youngsters for consuming chicken biryani while breaking their fast. “I am sure consuming chicken biryani is not an offence. It can’t be an offence…they were arrested for that very reason and they had to remain in jail for three months,” he said. Speaking at the 4th Memorial Lecture of Justice G P Singh at the National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal, Justice Bhuyan said peaceful protest is central to a democracy but ordinary acts of dissent are increasingly being treated as criminal conduct. “The right to express one’s views and to demonstrate peacefully are fundamental fre