S3 Episodes release every Wednesday
Friend of the Court is back for a 3rd season. This time, the show moves out of the courtroom to tell the stories of 7 individuals and their unique role in shaping India's constitutional culture. Over 6 episodes, we look at the lives and contributions of Justice Fazl Ali, the lawyer KG Kannabiran, filmmakers Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Raj Kapoor, women’s rights leader Hansa Mehta, artist Nandalal Bose and political thinker MN Roy. Some of these figures might be better known than others, each left an impact in their chosen field in their own way.
There were just a handful of women involved in writing a Constitution for a new India, and one of them was Hansa Mehta.
Mehta was extraordinary in many ways; she was born into a progressive family that educated her, she faced social opprobrium by choosing to marry outside her caste, and she was among the few active Congress leaders.
Mehta emerged as one of the key figures in the nascent women’s movement in India, and forged a career as a dynamic politician and later representative from India to the United Nations.
Guests: Achyut Chetan, Mrinalini Sinha, Radha Vatsal
Credits:
Host: Supriya Nair
(Supriya Nair is Head, Research and Media at Godrej DEI Lab)
Executive Producer: Ramya Boddupalli
Producer: Gaurav Vaz
Scriptwriting and research: Bhavya Dore and Ramya Boddupalli
Script editor: Sukhada Tatke
Fact checking: Mallika Dandekar
Audio and sound design: Saachi Rajadhyaksha
Mastering: Ayan De
Recording Studio: Stitch Audio, Mumbai
Advisors: Gouri Divan, Lawrence Liang, Ranvir Singh, Shyam Divan and Vivek Divan advised the show.
Special thanks to Alok Prasanna Kumar, Justice Gautam Patel, Jaydev Mehta, Kiran Mehta and Reetika Subramanian
22 Apr 2025
S03E05 - KG Kannabiran
How do you deploy the principles of justice and fairness day in and day out? What does it mean to work the Constitution “insurgently”? Through his life and work the lawyer and civil rights activist KG Kannabiran showed us exactly how. Sometimes known as the “Naxalite lawyer”, with a reputation for representing poor and downtrodden prisoners, Kannabiran was tireless in his efforts towards preserving human rights and fighting state impunity.
In this episode we explore how this lawyer from Andhra Pradesh was at the forefront of India’s civil liberties movement.
Guests: Kalpana Kannabiran, D Nagasaila, Nikhileshwar, V Suresh
Special thanks to Justice Gautam Patel, Arun Thiruvengadam, Alok Prasanna Kumar, Deepa Dhanraj and Reetika Subramanian
Credits:
Host: Raghu Karnad
Executive Producer: Ramya Boddupalli
Producer: Gaurav Vaz
Scriptwriting and research: Bhavya Dore and Ramya Boddupalli
Script editing: Sukhada Tatke
Fact checking: Mallika Dandekar
Audio and sound design: Saachi Rajadhyaksha
Mastering: Ayan De
Recording Studio: Stitch Audio, Mumbai
Advisors: Gouri Divan, Lawrence Liang, Ranvir Singh, Shyam Divan and Vivek Divan
16 Apr 2025
S03E04 - Justice Saiyid Fazl Ali
In 1950, the newly-formed Supreme Court had to decide on its first case concerning civil liberties. Should the government be allowed to preventively detain citizens, mostly political dissidents? In AK Gopalan vs State of Madras four out of five judges sided with the government. Only one judge differed. His name was Justice Saiyid Fazl Ali and he wrote the court’s first, and one of its most important dissents.
What is the historic and legal value of a dissenting judgement, and how did this one come about? In this episode we delve into the life and work of Justice Ali and the afterlife of his AK Gopalan judgement.
Guests: Abhinav Sekhri, Alok Prasanna Kumar and Seher Ali
Credits:
Host: Supriya Nair
(Supriya Nair is Head, Research and Media at Godrej DEI Lab)
Executive Producer: Ramya Boddupalli
Producer: Gaurav Vaz
Scriptwriting and research: Bhavya Dore and Ramya Boddupalli
Fact checking: Mallika Dandekar
Audio and sound design: Saachi Rajadhyaksha
Mastering: Ayan De
Recording Studio: at Stitch Audio, Mumbai
Thank you to Sukhada Tatke for editing support
Advisors: Gouri Divan, Lawrence Liang, Ranvir Singh, Shyam Divan and Vivek Divan advised the show.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
150 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 28 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
29
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
67
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