Former Supreme Court Justice O Chinappa Reddy died at his Hyderabad residence on Saturday, 16 years after retiring from the apex court.

Reddy graduated from Madras Law College and enrolled with the Madras Bar in 1944, practicing at the Andhra Pradesh High Court (HC) for 23 years until his appointment as an additional judge of that HC. He was soon a permanent judge there.

He was transferred to the Punjab & Haryana HC in 1976 and back to the AP HC in 1977. In 1978 he was elevated to the SC and after his retirement in 1987 he served as the chairman of the Karnataka BC Commission.

He had delivered several remarkable human rights judgements and was described as pro poor according to the New Indian Express.