HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court felt quieter than usual on Tuesday. Lawyers, judges, and staff filled a somber meeting room to remember Justice M. G. Priyadarshini, a judge whose sudden passing last month after a brief illness left the city’s legal world reeling.
Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul opened the condolence meeting with a call for two minutes of silence. You could hear the soft rustle of robes and the occasional sigh as everyone stood, heads bowed, thinking of a woman who’d been a guiding light in these halls.
Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy spoke next, his voice catching as he described Justice Priyadarshini’s knack for cutting through legal jargon to get to the heart of a case. “She didn’t just rule on cases; she saw the people behind them,” he said, recalling her landmark rulings that colleagues still talk about over tea in the court canteen. Her decisions, he added, weren’t just about law they set a standard for what fairness could look like.
The room was packed with familiar faces: Additional Solicitor General Narsimhachary Sharma, Public Prosecutor P. Nageshwar Rao, Bar Council Chairman Narsimhareddy, and Jagan, head of the High Court Advocates’ Association. Priyadarshini’s family sat near the front, their presence a quiet reminder of the personal loss behind the professional tributes.
For those who worked with her, Justice Priyadarshini was more than a judge. A young lawyer recalled how she’d stay late, scribbling notes, always ready to explain a point of law to a nervous newcomer. “She made you feel like your work mattered,” he said, asking to stay anonymous out of respect for the moment.
