DLN Rao (Senior Advocate) Death, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About DLN Rao

• After completing his formal education, DLN Rao began practising law at Karnataka High Court.

• In 2017, Bar and Bench described him as a lawyer with more than four decades of experience at the Bar and as the foremost authority on mining laws in the country.

• DLN Rao then built a practice in several areas of law. He was an expert in mining law.
• He often appeared for many cases, such as mining leases, quarrying, mineral rights, government decisions, land, and industrial projects in the Karnataka High Court.

• Several court records from the late 1990s and early 2000s showed that he represented many clients in mining-related cases.

• In 2000, Karnataka High Court recorded one of his cases, where he appeared in a dispute which involved a quarrying lease and the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.

• In 2010, the Karnataka High Court appointed DLN Rao as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) to look after the controversial underground Metro stretch between the High Court and Vidhana Soudha through the eco-sensitive Cubbon Park area.

• He supported strict environmental protection. He often raised concerns about the trees and green cover that could be affected by the above project.

• After that, the High Court approved the underground project with strict conditions to protect the environment. This helped in balancing the need for urban development with the protection of nature.

• In July 2021, DLN Rao delivered a lecture at the Vivekananda College of Law, Bengaluru, during a webinar on the law of precedent.

• He explained subjects such as, Meaning of legal precedent, Precedents in the judicial system, Nature of precedent, Binding effect of judgments, Doctrine of stare decisis, Article 141 of the Constitution, and How Supreme Court decisions become binding law.

• In 2025 and 2026, DLN Rao appeared as a Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court in the mining and mineral disputes case between the State of Karnataka and the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).

• As of 2026, reportedly, DLN Rao had spent more than five decades in legal practice.

• He passed away on 7 September 2026.

• DLN Rao liked travelling to distant places, playing golfer, watching cricket in his free time. He used to travel distant places to watch cricket matches.