Education and at the Bar:
Born on December 2, 1935 Justice M. Jagannadha Rao graduated in Honours from the Presidency College, Madras in Statistics in 1956, passed law from Osmania University at Hyderabad and was enrolled as a lawyer in 1960. He practiced in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh under his father Sri M.S. Ramachandra Rao till the latter became a Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Then he was with his paternal uncle Sri M. Krishna Rao who also became a Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in the year 1966.

Judicial career and Law Commission of India:
Justice Rao was elevated to the Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in September 1982. He was appointed as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court in July 1991, and was transferred as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in April 1994. He was appointed Judge of Supreme Court of India in March 1997. He retired from the Supreme Court on December 1st 2000. He was appointed as Vice-Chairman, 16th Law Commission on January 15th 2001 and as the Chairman of the 16th Law Commission with effect from January 3rd 2002. From September 1, 2003, he was appointed as Chairman of the 17th Law Commission for a further period of three years. He retired as Chairman on 31st August, 2006.

During his tenure in the Law Commission of India, he submitted about 26 Reports starting from 176th Report to the 201st Report. These Reports, in so far as they have been laid in Parliament can be accessed from the website of the Law Commission of India (www.lawcommissionofindia.nic.in). They are on a variety of subjects dealing with civil law, criminal law, constitutional law, conflict of laws and several issues of contemporary relevance.

Other assignments:
In December 2000, he was appointed a Member of the Sub-Committee of the National Commission for Review of the Constitution of India on the question of adding new Articles to Chapter III of the Constitution of India dealing with Fundamental Rights. The Committee submitted its Report in 2002. He also submitted a Consultation Paper on Financial Support and Budget for the Judiciary, a comparative study in various countries.

He submitted three Reports to the Supreme Court of India on Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, Rules for Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation, Court Management, during 2003, which have been accepted by the Supreme Court in Salem Advocates Bar Association v. Union of India: 2005 (6) SCC 49: AIR 2003 SC 189.

He has been appointed in September 2006, Chairman of the Sub-Committee of the Knowledge Commission dealing with Legal Education.

He is a member of the Academic Councils of the National Law Universities, Bangalore, Jodhpur, Indian Law Institute, New Delhi, Chairman of the Academic Council, Army Institute of Law, Chandigarh and associated with the National Judicial Academy, in its Committees.

International Conferences:
He attended and participated in the Commonwealth Law Conferences in Melbourne in 2003 and at London, 2005; the Commonwealth Law Commission Conference at Wellington, New Zealand in 2004; the Law Commission meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 2003; the Cross Border Insolvency Conferences at Singapore and Colombo in 2004, 2006.

Some of the articles and speeches delivered by him are contained in this website.