Who is Nooty Rammohan Rao, the former judge accused of torturing daughter-in-law

judg-assault A screengrab of the CCTV footage

In 2010, Nooty Rammohan Rao was part of a bench that conducted hearings in a very important case. The case pertained to allotment of government lands to various societies formed by civil servants, judges, journalists and elected representatives. Many remember Rao for that case as he passed a significant judgement.

Seven years later, he is in a tight spot after his daughter-in-law released a CCTV footage where she is allegedly seen being assaulted by her husband and other family members, including Rao.

A lawyer till 2006, Nooty Rammohan Rao was elevated to a judge in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh High Court. He moved to Tamil Nadu High Court in 2015. His subordinates remember Rao to be honest, mild and soft-spoken. He was considered to be brilliant in his profession. A junior lawyer, who worked under Rao, said he worked 10-12 hours a day. Another person said Rao usually did not display anger or any unreasonable behaviour at work or at social gatherings.

However, a few others have a different opinion about him.

“We are not surprised at all,” said a senior lawyer on condition of anonymity. “Though he was a good judge, the bar circles always knew that his domestic life wasn’t ideal. There were complaints of interference by family members in his work. We knew that there were disturbances in his family Life.”

He said the circumstances under which the judge was transferred from AP High Court to Tamil Nadu High Court was not normal and there was more to the story.

His son Vashishta is facing charges of dowry harassment and the investigation is under way. According to Sindhu Sharma, the complainant and daughter-in-law of Rao, she was subjected to physical and mental torture by the her in-laws for dowry.