It is generally argued that the present cosmological observations support the accelerating models of the universe, as driven by the cosmological constant or `dark energy. We argue here that an alternative model of the universe is possible which explains the current observations of the universe. We demonstrate this with a reinterpretation of the magnitude-redshift relation for Type Ia supernovae, since this was the test that gave a spurt to the current trend in favour of the cosmological constant.