Ramachandra Rao, former A-G, passes away
S Ramachandra Rao, senior advocate of Supreme Court and Telangana High Court and former advocate general of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh High Court, passed away on Thursday evening at a private hospital in the city due to cardiac arrest.
The 74-year-old is survived by two sons, who are both advocates. The cremation is to take place on Friday at Punjagutta graveyard. Ramachandra Rao was born on September 1, 1947, and had received his degree from Andhra University and law degree from Madras University. He served as the advocate general in 1994, when late NT Rama Rao was the Chief Minister. He resigned from the post eight months after taking charge.
He is known for filing several public interest litigation petitions, and was instrumental in getting the 32nd Constitutional amendment partly quashed in the Supreme Court, thereby restoring the High Court’s jurisdiction in service matters. He had successfully challenged the capitation fee in professional colleges in the combined state of Andhra Pradesh. Re-employment of more than 10,000 teachers, reinstatement of 3,000 Hyderabad Allwyn employees, 14,000 village officers getting back their jobs, release of about 10,000 under trial prisoners are among the cases he had won. He fought Congress leader Dronamraju Satyanarayana’s case in 1988, wherein a five-judge bench of the HC held the then Chief Minister NT Rama Rao guilty of corruption on seven counts. The appeal on this issue is still pending before the Supreme Court. As for the latest cases, he filed a petition through an MLA before the SC for giving special category status to AP.
HC tells TS to identify land for former Armyman
Expressing displeasure with the Revenue authorities for failing to deliver possession of the land assigned to an ex-serviceman 10 years ago, the Telangana High Court directed the government’s counsel to get instructions from the latter on the issue. “How will Shikam lands be assigned under the ex-serviceman quota by the Revenue authorities? It’s not proper to make the ex-serviceman suffer during the pandemic,” a division bench said and directed the authorities to identify alternative land.
The bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy was dealing with an appeal filed by the government challenging the order of a single judge, who directed the authorities to forthwith deliver possession of the land assigned to P Laxminarayana Reddy. Reddy, who served in the Army from 1985 to 2001, was allotted four acres in Dharur mandal of Vikarabad. The bench posted the matter to September 11.