Telangana HC Bestows Senior Gowns on 22 Distinguished Lawyers
(Judicial Quest News Network)
Hyderabad, September 19, 2026-In one of the most significant exercises of institutional recognition that a constitutional court can bestow upon the members of its Bar, the Telangana High Court has designated twenty-two advocates as Senior Advocates conferring upon them the professional honour that the legal fraternity regards as the highest distinction available to a practising lawyer short of elevation to the Bench itself.
The decision was taken at a Full Court meeting of the Telangana High Court held on September 16, 2026 a sitting of the entire assembled Bench of the court, convened in its most solemn institutional form, for the purpose of collectively recognising advocates whose contribution to the law, the Bar, and the courts of Telangana merits the formal acknowledgement of the institution before which they have spent their professional lives.
The Twenty-Two: A Roll of Professional Distinction
The twenty-two advocates designated as Senior Advocates by the Full Court of the Telangana High Court represent a cross-section of the state’s legal profession whose collective years of practice, breadth of specialisation, and institutional contribution to the courts of Telangana compose a portrait of professional dedication that the designation is designed to honour.
The advocates who have been conferred the Senior Gown are:
1. Mantri Rama Rao — A practitioner of considerable standing whose career before the Telangana High Court spans a substantial period of legal practice across the full range of the court’s jurisdiction.
2. AK Jaya Prakash Rao — A senior member of the Bar whose professional contributions to the court’s practice have been recognised through this most formal of judicial acknowledgements.
3. M Rajender Reddy — A practitioner whose depth of experience and quality of advocacy before the Telangana High Court and its predecessor institution have earned him this distinguished recognition.
4. Yerabati Rama Rao — A lawyer of professional distinction whose contribution to the Bar of the Telangana High Court has been formally acknowledged by the assembled Bench.
5. Manmohan Dundu — A practitioner whose career at the Bar reflects the sustained quality of advocacy that the designation is designed to identify and honour.
6. Kalpana Ekbote — One of the women advocates whose designation on September 16 represents a meaningful, if still insufficiently frequent, recognition of the contributions of women legal professionals to the Telangana Bar. Her designation is a moment of particular institutional significance in the broader context of the legal profession’s ongoing reckoning with gender representation.
7. A Prabhakar Rao — A senior member of the Telangana Bar whose professional standing has earned him the Full Court’s formal recognition.
8. Y Ratnakar — An advocate whose sustained contribution to the courts of Telangana has been acknowledged through this prestigious designation.
9. K Raghavacharyulu — A practitioner of established reputation whose career at the Telangana High Court merited the assembled judges’ institutional endorsement.
10. JV Prasad — A lawyer whose professional distinction across the Telangana High Court’s docket has been formally recognised by the Full Court.
11. E Uma Maheshwar Rao — A practitioner of notable professional standing, recognised for his contributions to the Bar of the Telangana High Court. Notably, Uma Maheshwar Rao is a practitioner who has spoken publicly about the importance of trial-level lawyering — a perspective that enriches the Senior Advocate community with a perspective on the full spectrum of legal practice from the trial court to the constitutional court.
12. Srinivas Velagapudi — An advocate of established professional distinction whose contribution to the Telangana Bar has been formally acknowledged by the Full Court.
13. Dr Juttukonda Vijayalaxmi — A practitioner whose academic credentials reflected in the doctoral qualification that precedes her name complement a career of legal practice that has earned her the Telangana High Court’s formal recognition.
Her designation is a reminder that the Senior Advocate community benefits from the infusion of practitioners who bring not merely courtroom experience but scholarly depth to the Bar’s intellectual life.
14. Chetluru Srinivas — A senior member of the Telangana Bar formally recognised by the Full Court.
15. Palle Nageswar Rao — An advocate of professional distinction whose career at the Telangana High Court has earned him this honour.
16. VVSN Raju — A practitioner of established standing whose contribution to the Bar has been acknowledged through the Full Court’s designation.
17. PS Rajasekhar — A lawyer whose professional standing before the Telangana High Court has earned him formal recognition from the assembled Bench.
18. Ramesh Babu Vishwanthula @ Vishwanath — An advocate of considerable professional experience whose career has been formally acknowledged by the Full Court of the Telangana High Court.
19. Thomas George — A practitioner whose designation represents the cultural and professional diversity of the Telangana Bar — a reflection of the court’s willingness to recognise excellence across every section of the legal fraternity it serves.
20. Chikkudu Prabhakar — A senior member of the Bar formally recognised by the Full Court.
21. P Vishnuvardhana Reddy — An advocate of established professional distinction whose contribution to the Telangana High Court’s practice has earned him this honour.
22. Vivek @ Vivek Jain — A practitioner whose career at the Telangana Bar has been acknowledged through the Full Court’s formal designation.
