India, July 19 -- On an unusually warm November afternoon 13 years ago, Kerala's heritage town of Fort Kochi was in the throes of uncertainty. The air was filled with heightened anticipation of the fate of India's first art biennale, even before it had begun.

A cabinet meeting of the state government was in progress in capital Thiruvananthapuram on November 29, 2012. One of the items on the agenda was a decision on the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, under fire for alleged irregularities in the spending of huge public funds given for its forthcoming first edition. The inauguration of the biennale was scheduled for December 12, 2012.

The news of the cabinet decision would soon reach Fort Kochi. The then chief minister Oommen Chandy and his cabin...