SRIKAKULAM: Justice Kothapalli Punnayya (95), the retired High Court judge and former SC-ST Commission chairperson, died on Saturday morning, while undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Visakhapatnam. He was the father of former AP Assembly Speaker K Prathibha Bharti.
He was also the vice-chairperson of the Srikakulam zilla parishad. His last rites would be performed at Kavali in Santakaviti mandal on Sunday with full state honours. Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy mourned his death.