Hyderabad: Noted Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India and Rajya Sabha MP from West Bengal, Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, will deliver a talk on “Indian Constitution and its Protection” in Hyderabad on Saturday, August 29, 2026.
The lecture will be held at the Main Auditorium, Institution of Engineers (India), Visvesvaraya Bhavan, Khairatabad, Hyderabad, at 6 pm on August 29. A high tea will be served at 5:30 pm. Admission is free and the programme is open to the public.
The lecture, being jointly organised by the S. Jaipal Reddy Memorial Foundation and Manthan Foundation, will focus on the contemporary challenges facing the Indian Constitution, the importance of protecting Constitutional values and the safeguards needed to preserve the principles of democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law.
Prof. Srikrishna Deva Rao, Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, will be the Chief Guest and address the gathering.
The programme assumes significance at a time when several Constitutional questions, legislative changes and debates over the functioning of democratic institutions have generated considerable public interest. The organisers said that an informed discussion on the Constitution and the institutions responsible for protecting its fundamental principles is essential in a democracy.
During her lecture, Dr. Guruswamy is expected to examine some of the key challenges confronting the Constitutional framework and discuss the role of citizens, institutions and the judiciary in safeguarding Constitutional rights and democratic values.
Dr. Menaka Guruswamy is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and has been associated with several important Constitutional and civil-rights cases. She played a significant role in the legal challenge to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which led to the Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 judgment decriminalising consensual same-sex relations. She and fellow advocate Arundhati Katju were subsequently named among TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019. (Sci API)
Dr. Guruswamy has studied at the National Law School of India University, University of Oxford and Harvard Law School and has also taught and undertaken academic work at leading international institutions. Her work has focused extensively on Constitutional law, civil rights and public-interest litigation.
The S. Jaipal Reddy Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organisation, was established in memory of the distinguished parliamentarian, Union Minister and former legislator in united Andhra Pradesh, S. Jaipal Reddy, who was known for his commitment to democratic principles, parliamentary debate and freedom of expression. The Foundation organises lectures, presents an annual award and facilitates discussions on issues of national importance.
The organisers have invited citizens, students, academics, legal professionals and all those interested in the Constitution and India’s democratic institutions to attend the lecture and participate in the discussion.
