Constitutional Law Expert and Senior Advocate PP Rao no more

Constitutional Law Expert and Senior Advocate PP Rao passed away earlier today due to cardiac arrest. He was 84.

“It is a great loss for the Supreme Court Bar Association and the entire Legal Fraternity”, said SCBA Secretary Gaurav Bhatia.

Born on 1 July 1933, he completed his LL.B. and LL.M. from Osmania University, Hyderabad. Rao started his career teaching law in Delhi University in 1961. He was enrolled as an Advocate by the Bar Council of Delhi in 1967 and thereafter started practice in the Supreme Court.

In February 1969, he became an Advocate-on-Record. He was Advocate-on-Record for the State of Andhra Pradesh and a Junior Standing Counsel for the Central Government before he was designated as Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court in August 1976.

He was elected President of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 1991, and in 2006, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.

In 2014, President of India Pranab Mukherjee approved Rao’s selection as jurist member of the selection committee of the Lokpal.

Rao had appeared before the Supreme Court in several landmark cases including Kesavananda Bharati, SR Bommai, Unnikrishnan v. State of AP, TMA Pai, PA Inamdar, and the Babri Masjid demolition case.

Image taken from here.