In Memoriam | Late Justice Maturi Girija Priyadarsini, Judge, Telangana High Court

In a tragic shock to the legal fraternity of Telangana, sitting Judge of Telangana High Court, Justice M.G. Priyadarsini, passed away on 4-5-2025 following a long illness. She had been holding online hearings for some time in view of her health¹. Justice M.G. Priyadarsini was due to retire on 29-8-2026.²

Early Life, Education and Career as an Advocate³

Justice Priyadarsini was born on 30th August pursued Master of Arts in Sociology, Master of Arts in Public Administration and Master of Arts in Political Science from Andra University.

Justice Priyadarsini then went on to do 3 years law course from N.B.M Law college, Visakhapatnam in the year 1995 and her post graduation in Law (L.L.M) in Labour and Industrial Law from Andhra University in the year 1997. During her academic career, Justice Priydarsini stood first in Constitutional Law by securing highest marks.

Taking on the next step towards advancement in the legal field, Justice Priyadarsini enrolled as an Advocate on the rolls of Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh in September 1995 and joined the Office of P. Uma Bala, where she worked for about 7 years. Justice Priyadarsini actively practiced for more than 10 years at Vishakhapatnam and dealt with all types of cases in Civil, Criminal, Labour law and Matrimonial matters and actively appeared in pro-bono cases referred by the District Legal Services Authority of Vishakhapatnam.

Judicial Career⁴

Moving onto the next stage of her legal career, Justice Priyadarsini was selected as District Judge by direct recruitment and joined judicial service as Additional District Judge on 03-11-2008. Later she worked as Principal District Judge, Ongole from August 2016 to December 2018; Adilabad from January 2019 to October 2020 and Karimnagar from October 2020 to March 2022.

During Justice Priyadarsini’s tenure as Principal District Judge in Prakasham and Adilabad District of the then composite State of Andhra Pradesh, the District Legal Service Authority stood first continuously for 3 terms, during the period 2016-2019 for being best district legal service authority by National Legal Service Authority.

*Did you Know? Justice Priyadarsini’s dedication was acknowledged by NALSA in its 21st Episode of Akele Nahin Hain Aap program telecasted on Doordarshan, where she was appreciated for the efforts of District Legal Service Authority in conducting various legal aid programs in remote villages of the State with an objective to extend legal aid and to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society.

Justice Priyadarsini was later elevated and sworn in as a Judge of High Court for the State of Telangana on 24-3-2022.

Notable Judgments

Scope of interference in arbitration award passed u/s 34, 37 of A&C Act is limited unless error appears on face of record’: Telangana HC

An appeal was filed against the order passed by the II Additional District Judge, Rangareddy, (‘the ADJ’) wherein, the application to set aside the award passed by the Sole Arbitrator, Respondent 1, was dismissed. M.G. Priyadarsini, J.*, dismissed the appeal and opined that the scope of interfering with the arbitration award was very limited until and unless there was an error apparent on the face of the record and there was perversity in the award. [Nile Ltd. v. Gurdip Singh, 2024 SCC OnLine TS 11]

Jurisdiction under the Contempt of Courts Act must be exercised cautiously and with due diligence: Telangana HC

The Division Bench of Chillakur Sumalatha and M.G. Priyadarsini, JJ., observed that jurisdiction under the Contempt of Courts Act has to be exercised cautiously and with due diligence. Only if substantive material is placed before the Court which clearly indicates that the directions or orders issued by the Court are wilfully and knowingly disobeyed, then only the person or authority which disobeys the order can be held to be guilty of committing the offence of Contempt. [Sailatha Banoth v. Devulapalli Praveen Kumar, 2023 SCC OnLine TS 221]

In a suit for declaration of title and possession, the burden is on the plaintiff to adduce evidence in support of his claim: Telangana HC

The Division Bench of P. Naveen Rao and M.G. Priyadarsini*, JJ., while adjudicating a property dispute, discussed the scope of Section 96 of the CPC and opined that in a suit for declaration of title and possession, the burden is on the plaintiff to adduce evidence in support of his claim and cannot depend on the weakness in the evidence of the defendant. [Jai Laxmi Narasimha Restaurant & Bar v. V. Navnitha, 2022 SCC OnLine TS 1248]

In a document of sale, possession is treated as collateral to the main transaction affecting the immovable property: Telangana HC

The Bench of M.G. Priyadarsini, J., while adjudicating a property matter, stated that as per the well settled principle of law, any purpose other than the one which relates to establishment of title to the property can be treated as collateral. It has been consistently held by the Apex Court as well as this Court that in a document of sale, possession is treated as collateral to the main transaction affecting the immovable property. [Pathi Chandrasekhar v. Syed Salar, 2023 SCC OnLine TS 1167]

Legacy

Late Justice M.G. Priyadarsini’s legal career spanned over 30 years and in these 30 years, she displayed immense dedication to ensure that legal aid reaches to all. Her demise surely has created void in the legal community, especially within the Telangana High Court fraternity. However, Late Justice Priyadarsini’s commitment towards providing legal aid shall forever act as a beacon for all.