Supreme Court Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud on Monday stressed that anti-terror law should not be “misused” to “quell dissent” in the country. He also said that deprivation of liberty for even a single day is “one too many”.

Justice Chandrachud was addressing an event on the legal ties between India and the United States when he made the comments.

“Criminal law, including anti-terror legislation, should not be misused for quelling dissent or harassment to citizens,” he said.

He went on to say, “As I noted in my judgement in Arnab Goswami vs the State, our courts must ensure that they continue to remain the first line of defence against the deprivation of liberty of citizens.”

“Deprivation of liberty for even a single day is one too many. We must always be mindful of the deeper systemic issues of our decisions,” he added.

The Supreme Court judge’s strong remarks have come amid outrage over the death of tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, who was arrested under the anti-terror law in the Elgar Parishad case last year.

The 84-year-old, who was serving time in jail, died last week in Mumbai while fighting for his bail on health grounds

Many other cases where anti-terror law was used against dissenting citizens have made headlines in recent times. Assam’s Akhil Gogoi recently walked out of jail after 1.5 years. He was arrested for participating in anti-CAA protests.

In another case, a Kashmiri man, arrested on terror charges, was released a few weeks back – after a legal fight of  11 years – on being found innocent.

Last month, while granting bail to student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha, the Delhi High Court made some sharp observations on the indiscriminate invocation of UAPA by the government and police.