Justice Pingle Jaganmohan Reddy (23 January 1910 – 9 March 1999) was Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.
He practised in the High Courts of Bombay, Madras and Hyderabad during 1937–1946. He served as deputy Secretary, Government of Hyderabad, Additional Judge, District and Sessions Judge, Additional Judge High Court, Hyderabad from 25 February 1945 until 16 November 1946.
He was Judge of Hyderabad High Court from 16 February 1952, Judge, High Court of Andhra Pradesh between 1956 and 1966 and Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court between 1966–1969; he was Judge, Supreme Court of India, from 1969 to 1975.
Member, Syndicate and Dean, faculty of Law, Osmania University between 1952–59 and Vice-Chancellor, Osmania University in 1975.
Life
Early life
Much of what we know of Reddy's early life draws from an autobiography that he published in 1993, titled The Revolutions I Have Lived Through.
Reddy was born on 23 January 1910 in the then-princely state of Hyderabad, in the village of Waddepally. His grandfather, Narasimha Reddy, had three sons: Jaganmohan Redd'ys father, Venkataramareddy, as well as Krishna Reddy and Ranga Reddy. Jaganmohan Reddy's father was adopted by his paternal uncle to be the heir, as his paternal uncle Ramachandra Reddy's only son died at the age of eleven. Reddy's adoptive and natural grandfathers both died young, leaving his father, Venkataramareddy to support his family at the age of fifteen. His father took pp the position of collecting tax revenues for the Nalgonda District, and married his mother in 1898: they were aged 16 and 13 respectively at the time of marriage. Reddy's father was mostly self-educated, and according to Reddy, placed great value on education, establishing the Reddy Boarding Girls' Hostel and Girls School in Hyderabad, as well as supporting the education of several female children in the extended family.
Reddy had five siblings, all born before him: his elder sister, Kamala, and his brother Manmohan Reddy both died in childhood. His surviving siblings included a sister, Kumudini, and two brothers, Janardhan, and Madhusudan. He spent his early childhood in Wadepally, while his siblings were being educated in Hyderabad. In addition to his contracts with the colonial government for the collection of various taxes, including excise tax, Reddy's father supported his family through a number of business interests based in Hyderabad, including cotton and ginning factories, and shell petrol and oil agencies.
Reddy married his wife, Sita, in 1935; he was 25 years old, and she was 16. Her name was changed to 'Pramila' after marriage. She attended school in England while Reddy completed his L.L.B. degree. He had two sons: the older one Ajith, born in 1939 and a daughter, Urmila, born in 1946.
Education
Reddy's formal education began in a village school in Waddepally, his hometown, and continued in Hyderabad. He was briefly taught by the owner of a snuff tobacco shop, both, in the art of making snuff tobacco, as well as in the Telugu language. He continued his formal schooling with private tutors, and later at City High School in Hyderabad, and at St. George's Grammar School for Boys, also in Hyderabad, completing his Senior Cambridge exams there. He also briefly attended the Nizam College in Hyderabad, which was then affiliated to the University of Madras.
He travelled to England with the intention of becoming a doctor, studying for his Matriculation at the private Badingham College in Surrey initially, but transferring to a school in Leeds to be close to his brother, who was attending college there. He then enrolled in Leeds University, for a bachelor's degree in Commerce. Reddy states that he decided to take up the law as a profession following a series of events, including witnessing matters being argued in the Nizam's courts while visiting home, as well as a meeting with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who advised him on how to establish a practice. His uncle, a Barrister, was then at Lincoln's Inn and Reddy attended several dinners there, eventually joining Gray's Inn in 1932. He studied law, completing both, a B.A. (Law Tripos) and an LL.B.at Cambridge University, at Trinity College.