Constitutional Law Expert and Senior Advocate PP Rao passed away on Monday. According to Bar & Bench, he was 84-years-old, and his death was caused due to cardiac arrest.
Born in 1933, Rao started his career teaching law, and was enrolled in the Bar Council of Delhi in 1967, reported legal news website Bar & Bench.
Rao has appeared before the Supreme Court in several landmark cases, including the Kesavananda Bharti case.
He was elected President of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 1991.
According to The Scroll, Rao had helped develop the argument against the legal challenge to President’s Rule in four Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states – Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh – after the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992. He had successfully argued that a violation of secular ideals of the Constitution was reason enough to dismiss a government.
In 2006, Rao was awarded the Padma Bhushan, and in 2014 his name was approved for selection as jurist member of the selection committee of the Lokpal reported Bar & Bench.
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