N. Venkatachala
judge
- July 3, 1930 · Mulbagal
- October 30, 2019
- 89 years
About N. Venkatachala
N. Venkatachala, 89, Indian judge, member of the Supreme Court (1992–1995).
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Full Biography
|Nanje Gowda Venkatachala (3 July 1930 – 30 October 2019) was a judge of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of state of Karnataka. He was known for his approach of taking action in each and every case he caught, many times red-handed by personally leading the raid while he was serving as Lokayukta. He became the first of the four Lokayuktas to take the oath of office and secrecy in Kannada language with the governor also administering the oath in Kannada. He is survived by his wife Anasuya Chala and children M.V. Seshachala, M.V. Vedachala, Aruna Ramesh and Arjuna Chala.
Early life
N. Venkatachala was born in Mittur village of Mulabagal taluk in Kolar district in a respectable agriculturist's family. After completing his schooling from Mulbagal and Kolar he moved to Bengaluru to pursue his college education. He obtained Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Law degrees from Mysore University. He was married to Anasuya.
Career
Venkatachala enrolled as an advocate in the then High Court of Mysore on 16 November 1955. He served as a part-time reader in Mercantile Law from 1958 to 1970 and a legal adviser to the University of Agricultural Sciences, Hebbal from 1963 to 1973 and Bangalore University from 1970 to 1973. He was elected as high Court government pleader in 1968 and continued in that position till 1973 and when he was promoted to high court government advocate which he served till 1977. He was appointed additional judge for Karnataka High Court on 28 November 1977 and a permanent judge on 8 September 1978. He functioned as a tribunal for prevention of unlawful activities under the unlawful activities prevention act during the year 1990. He was appointed the acting chief justice for Karnataka High Court in May, 1992. On 1 July 1992 he was sworn in as judge of the Supreme Court of India which he remained until 22 July 1995.
Lokayukta
Venkatachala was best known for rejuvenating the department of Karnataka LokAyukta, the anti corruption agency. The then CM, S M Krishna, chose him as the Lokayukta on 2 July 2001. Sri Venkatachala revamped the working of Lokayukta. In spite of not having suo-moto powers to investigate, Sri Venkatachala used the appeals coming to Lokayukta, to initiate probe and raid. Due to his pro-active approach, number of complaints the office of Lokayukta was receiving dramatically increased from 20–25 per day to 200–250 per day while Venkatachala was in tenure. He personally led hundreds of raids often lashing out at corruption in political life. In his four and a half years in office, he had looked into more than 50,000 cases of misconduct and complaints from members of the public. While purists questioned his model of raiding government officials without notices, he was lauded in equal measure for acting as a deterrent towards corruption. He even drew lot of criticism often from politicians who accused him of tarnishing all politicians with the same brush. He was discontinued as Lokayukta for the second term because of legal hurdles although a huge campaign was done in favor of him. Owing to his popularity he was featured in a Kannada film Lancha Samrajya as an officer fighting the corruption.
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Articles & News
- "Former Karnataka Lokayukta N. Venkatachala passes away"thehindu.com
- 27808201 1 justice venkatachala lok ayukta corruptarticles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Reported coverage of N. Venkatachala; each link opens the original article on the publisher's own site.
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Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._Venkatachala
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
- View article
- View record
- October 6, 2026
- Sep 26, 2026
Trivia & Knowledge· 16 questions
Questions drawn from N. Venkatachala's archived record and the sources above.
1.What is the full birth name of N. Venkatachala?
- A.Nanje Gowda Venkatachalacorrect
- B.Nanje Gowda Mittur
- C.Nanje Gowda Mulabagal
- D.Nanje Gowda Chala
N. Venkatachala was born as Nanje Gowda Venkatachala.
Source: biography header
2.In which village was N. Venkatachala born?
- A.Hebbal
- B.Mitturcorrect
- C.Mulabagal
- D.Kolar
N. Venkatachala was born in Mittur village of Mulabagal taluk.
Source: early life section
3.At which university did N. Venkatachala obtain his Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Law degrees?
- A.Karnataka University
- B.University of Agricultural Sciences
- C.Mysore Universitycorrect
- D.Bangalore University
N. Venkatachala obtained his degrees from Mysore University.
Source: early life section
4.On what date did N. Venkatachala enroll as an advocate in the High Court of Mysore?
- A.8 September 1978
- B.16 November 1955correct
- C.28 November 1977
- D.16 November 1968
N. Venkatachala enrolled as an advocate in the then High Court of Mysore on 16 November 1955.
Source: career section
5.N. Venkatachala served as a legal adviser to which institution from 1963 to 1973?
- A.Karnataka High Court
- B.University of Agricultural Sciences, Hebbalcorrect
- C.High Court of Mysore
- D.Mysore University
He served as a legal adviser to the University of Agricultural Sciences, Hebbal from 1963 to 1973.
Source: career section
6.On what date was N. Venkatachala appointed as a permanent judge of the Karnataka High Court?
- A.1 July 1992
- B.8 September 1978correct
- C.28 November 1977
- D.16 November 1955
N. Venkatachala was appointed as a permanent judge on 8 September 1978.
Source: career section
7.In what capacity did N. Venkatachala serve during the year 1990?
- A.Acting chief justice
- B.Tribunal for prevention of unlawful activitiescorrect
- C.Judge of the Supreme Court
- D.Lokayukta of Karnataka
N. Venkatachala functioned as a tribunal for prevention of unlawful activities during 1990.
Source: career section
8.When did N. Venkatachala begin his tenure as a judge of the Supreme Court of India?
- A.1 July 1992correct
- B.2 July 2001
- C.May 1992
- D.22 July 1995
He was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on 1 July 1992.
Source: career section
9.Who chose N. Venkatachala to be the Lokayukta on 2 July 2001?
- A.The Governor of Karnataka
- B.The Karnataka High Court
- C.The Supreme Court of India
- D.S. M. Krishnacorrect
The then CM, S M Krishna, chose him as the Lokayukta on 2 July 2001.
Source: lokayukta section
10.During N. Venkatachala's tenure as Lokayukta, how did the number of daily complaints change?
- A.Increased from 20–25 to 200–250correct
- B.Decreased from 200 to 20
- C.Dropped to zero due to raids
- D.Remained stable at 200
The number of complaints increased from 20–25 per day to 200–250 per day during his tenure.
Source: lokayukta section
11.What distinction did N. Venkatachala hold as a Lokayukta regarding his oath?
- A.He was the first to refuse an oath
- B.He was the only one to be sworn in by the President
- C.He was the first to take the oath in Kannadacorrect
- D.He served four terms as Lokayukta
N. Venkatachala was the first of the four Lokayuktas to take the oath of office and secrecy in Kannada language.
Source: biography header
12.How many cases of misconduct and complaints did N. Venkatachala look into during his four and a half years as Lokayukta?
- A.Over 10,000
- B.Over 5,000
- C.Over 50,000correct
- D.Over 100,000
In his four and a half years in office, he looked into more than 50,000 cases of misconduct and complaints.
Source: lokayukta section
13.In which Kannada film was N. Venkatachala featured?
- A.Lokayukta
- B.Justice Venkatachala
- C.Lancha Samrajyacorrect
- D.Karnataka Corruption
Owing to his popularity, he was featured in a Kannada film titled Lancha Samrajya.
Source: lokayukta section
14.Which of the following is a child of N. Venkatachala?
- A.S. M. Krishna
- B.Aruna Rameshcorrect
- C.Anasuya Chala
- D.Mittur Gowda
N. Venkatachala is survived by his children, including Aruna Ramesh.
Source: biography header
15.What was a major reason N. Venkatachala faced criticism from politicians?
- A.He failed to investigate any cases
- B.He was accused of tarnishing all politicians with the same brushcorrect
- C.He took bribes while in office
- D.He refused to take the oath in Kannada
Politicians often criticized him for tarnishing all of them with the same brush.
Source: lokayukta section
16.When did N. Venkatachala pass away?
- A.22 July 1995
- B.2 July 2001
- C.30 October 2019correct
- D.3 July 1930
N. Venkatachala died on 30 October 2019.
Source: biography header
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