Justice Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah (D.O.B. 25th October 1929) entered the general practice of the law in the year 1951 at Bangalore after obtaining University Degrees in Science and law. He worked in the chambers of his father Shri. M.Narayana Rao, a leading advocate of Bangalore who was also the first principal of the Government Law College, Bangalore. Justice Venkatachaliah was appointed judge of the High Court of Karnataka in the year 1975 and later as judge of the Supreme Court of India in the year 1987. He was appointed Chief Justice of India in February 1993 and held that office till his retirement in October 1994. Justice Venkatachaliah was appointed chairman, National Human Rights Commission in 1966 and held that office till October 1999. He was nominated Chairman of the National commission to Review the working of the Constitution in March 2000 and the National Commission gave its Report to the Government of India in March 2002. He was conferred “ Padma Vibhushan “ on 26th January 04 by the Government of India.

Justice Venkatachaliah has been associated with a number of social, cultural and service organizations. He was the Founder president of the Sarvodya International Trust. He is the Founder-patron of the society for Religious Harmony And Universal Peace New Delhi. He was Tagore Law Professor of the Calcutta University and delivered the Tagore Law Lectures. He was the chairman of the Committee of the Indian Council for Medical Research to draw up” Ethical Guidelines for Bio-Genetic Research Involving Human Subjects”. Justice Venkatachaliah is the president of the Indian Institute of the World Culture. He is currently chancellor of the Central University of Hyderabad.

He is the recipient of several doctorates, academic distinctions and honours from several Universities and Organisations