‘What if the Kesavananda Bharati verdict was different?’

Former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court Justice (Retd) S. Muralidhar delivered the 2025 Alladi Memorial Lecture organised at the University of Hyderabad on Friday.

The annual lecture, recalling Sir Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar’s contributions to drafting the Constitution and for shaping India’s democratic foundations, this year was themed on “Different yesterdays for a different tomorrow? The ‘what if’ moments in Indian Constitutional history.”

Provoking exploration of scholars and students gathered, Justice Muralidhar drew cases such as A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras and Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala and asked them to imagine how alternative verdicts might have reshaped the constitutional balance, between liberty and authority.

“These speculations are not idle scholarly musings. They help us grasp how those wielding power in each organ of the State have influenced our legal and political evolution,” he observed.

The lecture, by framing history through “what if” scenarios, threw light on the moral and institutional choices that continue to shape India’s constitutional destiny, which reaffirm the relevance of judicial introspection in a democracy.

Justice Muralidhar’s edited volume released in August 2025, [In]Complete Justice? The Supreme Court at 75 — also points at his lifelong engagement with questions of fairness, equity and the evolving role of the judiciary in a changing India.

Former Judge of the Supreme Court of India Justice J. Chelameswar, legal scholars, members of the Alladi family were present.