Justice Sambasiva Rao

With the death in July of Justice Avula Sambasiva Rao at the age of 86, the Indian Humanist movement lost one of its great leaders. As Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Ombudsman for Andhra Pradesh state, and Vice Chancellor of Andhra University, Justice Sambasiva Rao was the finest example of non-religious morality, rectitude, and discipline. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Justice Sambasiva Rao was associated with the Humanist and Rationalist movements in India from the 1930s. A leader of the Indian Rationalist Association and later a guiding spirit of the Rationalist Association of India, he was editor of the monthly Indian Rationalist for several years. He was also Chair of the Indian Radical Humanist Association at the time of being elevated to Lokayukta, the first ombudsman position in India, which he held with great distinction.

A legal luminary, Justice Rao was also known for his gentle manner and graceful chairing of meetings. He was one of the Chairs of IHEU’s Congress in Frankfurt. He taught at many Humanist, Rationalist, and Atheist study camps, wrote popular essays on Humanism, Rationalism and Indian philosophy, contributed to children’s magazines and books until his last days, and officiated at hundreds of Humanist, frequently inter-caste, weddings during a lifetime of service to the cause of Humanism.