Supreme Court advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, in memory of the renowned constitutional expert late Shri Pavani Parameswara Rao (commonly known as PP Rao), generously donated a bus to the Harmonious Children Rehabilitation Association (HCRA) on Wednesday.
Previously, in 2018, Senior Advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, the daughter in law of P.P. Rao, had donated the Bus to Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in memory of her late Father in Law Shri P.P. Rao, Senior Advocate, PadmaBhushan and Former President of SCBA. However, SCBA was finding it difficult to maintain the bus and were also facing losses.
Today, she re-donated the Bus to HCRA, a non-profit voluntary organization dedicated to providing opportunities for children with special needs.
“I finally found solace in re-donating the Bus to Harmonious Children Rehabilitation Association, Kalkaji, New Delhi. Feeling blessed, grateful and pleased that this bus will serve a Humanitarian Cause of serving the under privileged Children of God”, stated Senior Advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani.
Notably, PP Rao argued several landmark cases before the Supreme Court and played a crucial role in developing the legal argument against the challenge to President's Rule in four BJP-ruled states: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh, following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
He appeared in several other leading cases involving interpretation of the Constitution. He successfully fought against capitation fees in educational institutions in J.P. Unnikrishnan's case (1993); for the privileges of members of parliament in P.V. Narasimha Rao's case (1998); for the Governor's power to appoint a Chief Minister who is not a member of the Legislature, but enjoying majority support while her appeal against conviction was pending in B.R. Kapoor's case (2001); for the voters' right to information about the antecedents of contesting candidates in the PUCL case appearing for Lok Satta (2003); for Government's power of regulation of admissions to professional courses for preventing exploitation of students by private institutions in T.M.A. Pai (2002), Islamic Academy (2003) and P.A. Inamdar (2005).
Representing the National Human Rights Commission, he persuaded the Supreme Court to intervene directly in the Best Bakery case in which Fast Track Court had acquitted all the accused. He successfully defended the constitutional validity of Entry Tax before a nine Judge Bench of the Supreme Court in 2016. He had led the arguments on behalf of States of Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
