![Decorative poster for event “India's Constitutional Democracy: [In]complete Justice?” on Friday, January 30th at 12:15 PM in Hauser 102.](https://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Untitled-1-12.png)
![Decorative poster for event “India's Constitutional Democracy: [In]complete Justice?” on Friday, January 30th at 12:15 PM in Hauser 102.](https://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Untitled-1-12-1024x576.png)
Join us for a discussion with Justice Srinivasan Muralidhar, former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, and Professor Sugata Bose to examine whether the Constitution of India—and the Supreme Court it created—has lived up to its promise of protecting liberty, equality, fraternity, and dignity, while effectively checking majoritarian impulses and the excesses of state power. The event will feature Justice Muralidhar’s newly released book, [In]complete Justice? The Supreme Court at 75. The book offers a critical exploration of the Supreme Court’s evolving role and fosters meaningful dialogue of the Court’s challenges in retaining its legitimacy while striving to fulfill the constitutional promise of equal and fair justice.
Speakers
Justice Srinivasan Muralidhar is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India. He has previously served as the Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court and as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and he has also served as a Justice of the Delhi High Court. He is the current chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
Sugata Bose is the Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at Harvard University. He has served as Director of Graduate Studies in History at Harvard and as the Founding Director of Harvard’s South Asia Institute. Bose has also served as a Member of Parliament in India, elected to the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-2019), representing the Jadavpur constituency in Bengal, and throughout that period as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.
Arvind Kurian Abraham (moderator) LL.M. ‘20 is an SJD candidate at HLS. His focus is on human rights, constitutional law, and legislative advocacy. He worked as the Legislative Advisor to Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament of India, and drafted several Bills dealing with civil liberties, which were introduced in the Parliament. He assisted in the drafting of a Bill to deal with hate crimes and mob lynching in the country, which was introduced in the Parliament and was later adopted as state law in three states of India.
This event is co-organized by The Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, The Harvard University Asia Center, and International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School.