Aparna Rao
Aparna is a highly-regarded criminal barrister known for her dynamic practice in prosecuting and defending serious matters. She specialises in complex criminal and civil fraud, professional regulatory hearings, and Tribunal hearings.
Aparna is frequently sought as counsel in large-scale operations involving financial, technical, or legally-complex matters. Her work as junior counsel for the SFO has resulted in several high-profile prosecutions. She is instructed by HMRC both independently and as junior counsel in proceedings in the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber). She regularly prosecutes and defends in the Crown Court, handling cases involving violence, fraud, drugs, and sexual offences. She is the author of A Practical Guide to Bad Character Evidence for Criminal Practitioners, published by Law Brief Publishing, 2021.
Aparna represents healthcare professionals and police officers facing misconduct proceedings. She is has extensive experience in Police Disciplinary hearings and in the Nursing & Midwifery Council, Health & Care Professions Council, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Her impressive record includes numerous charges being dismissed at half time and securing favourable findings on facts, such as a recent full exoneration for a nurse accused of dishonesty, and successfully defending a police officer against serious sexual allegations.
Aparna is frequently instructed in confidential and sensitive matters involving public interest immunity and legal professional privilege.
Aparna was educated in Australia where she qualified as a solicitor. In 2009. She served as an Associate to a Justice of the High Court of Australia (the final appellate court in Australia, equivalent to the UK Supreme Court). She also taught as a Lecturer in Law at the Australian National University in Canberra, and later tutored in Law at Oxford University while completing her Doctorate in Law.
In 2013, Aparna cross-qualified and was called to the Bar of England and Wales.
In 2024, Aparna was appointed to sit as a Fee-Paid Judge in the Employment Tribunal.
In 2024 Aparna was appointed to sit as a Fee-Paid Judge of the First-tier Tribunal assigned to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.
Aparna is a registered public access practitioner.
Areas of expertise
- Serious fraud and associated matters
- Public law and government
- Inquests
- Professional discipline, misconduct, regulatory hearings
- First-tier Tribunal – tax and healthcare-related matters
- Disclosure and immunities
Notable cases
Crime
Operation Totem (Southwark Crown Court). Aparna was instructed by the Serious Fraud Office and led by Miranda Moore KC and Paul Raudnitz KC. Successful prosecution over two trials of the investment managers for fraud-related offences arising from £120m invested in the Axiom legal financing fund.
Operation Wicked (Reading Crown Court). Led by Catherine Rabaiotti, successful prosecution of multi-handed large-scale drug supply facilitated by use of EncroChat devices.
R v H (Croydon). Aparna defended a school teacher charged with assaulting a pupil. Her skilful handling of the child witness and the family’s account allowed the client’s case to be advanced to full effect. The defendant was acquitted.
Operation Fifi (Southwark Crown Court) and Operation Greys (Manchester Crown Court): Aparna was junior counsel instructed by the CPS Specialist Fraud Division to prosecute conspiracies to defraud motion picture companies (over £10m at a conservative estimate), by means of sophisticated torrent and seeding mechanisms, utilising a number of websites and professional software.
Operation Alabaster (Reading Crown Court): prosecuting four-handed fraudulent evasion of duty. Instructed by HMRC and the CPS Specialist Fraud Division.
Operation Atlas (Southwark Crown Court): instructed to prosecute by CPS Specialist Fraud Division. Former CEO of Montessori convicted on multiple frauds. Her thorough preparation and eye for detail were key to the successful outcome.
Serious Fraud Office: ex-parte application for search warrants. Application raised multi-faceted disclosure issues, PII (and liaison with government departments), and foreign-jurisdictional issues. Her ability to navigate multifaceted legal landscapes was critical in this high-stakes application.
Regulatory and Misconduct
N (Nursing & Midwifery Council). Aparna acted for this nurse following an initial failed application to be restored to the register following striking off 7 years ago after convictions for dishonesty. Aparna’s skilful presentation of evidence and powerful submissions in mitigation secured the nurse’s restoration to the register.
C (Police Disciplinary). Officer faced allegations from a witness who was now refusing to cooperate. The Appropriate Authority nonetheless pursued misconduct charges seeking to rely on absent witness evidence. Aparna’s successful legal argument to exclude all such evidence as hearsay resulted in the case being dropped altogether.
C (Nursing & Midwifery Council). Aparna represented nurse accused of stealing controlled drugs. All charges of theft/dishonesty were dismissed and no misconduct was found.
K (Coroner’s Inquest). Represented a nurse who was an interested party at an inquest into the death of a patient. Aparna successfully avoided a finding that client’s counter-signature for medication may have contributed to death.
B (Police Disciplinary). Detective Sergeant found to have used inappropriate language towards other officers. Exceptionally, Aparna secured a reduction in rank instead of dismissal without notice.
S (General Pharmaceutical Council): represented pharmacy technician accused of theft at work. Successfully avoided finding of any impairment.
C (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy): Aparna successfully defended a client accused of disclosing confidential information about a patient, failing to ensure a good quality of care, and contravention of good practice principles. Client exonerated on all counts.
Tribunal
B and M (Court of Appeal, on appeal from the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber)). Aparna was led by James Puzey and Jenny Goldring, for HMRC. Successfully argued that HMRC’s power to provide material to a co-appellant was not fettered by the First-tier Tribunal’s rules of admissibility.
B (First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber)). Instructed to defend against consolidated appeals in respect of denial of right to deduct input tax.
R (Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber)). Instructed by HMRC to resist appeal against FtT finding of non-compliance with VAT notice requirements for zero-rating output tax.
CQC (First-tier Tribunal, Health, Education and Social Care Chamber). Represented the Care Quality Commission in an appeal against cancellation of registrations of Provider and Registered Manager for a domiciliary care agency.
S (First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber)). Aparna was instructed shortly before 3-week trial to defend appeal against issue of personal liability notices by HMRC on a denial of zero-rating.
Appointments / Professional
Judicial
Fee-paid Judge of the Employment Tribunal (from 2024)
Fee-paid Judge of the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (from 2024)
Professional
CPS Specialist Fraud Division
SFO Prosecution Panel B
CPS Grade 3 Prosecutor
2009 Solicitor, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia
Education
University of Oxford
2011 – 2013 Doctor of Philosophy in Law (2013). The defendant’s bad character in the wake of the Criminal Justice Act 2003
2010 – 2011 Master of Philosophy in Law (topic as above, incorporated into DPhil thesis)
2009 – 2010 Bachelor of Civil Law reading Evidence, Advanced Property & Trusts, Conflict of Laws, and Civil Procedure
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
2009 Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice
2002 – 2007 Bachelor of Laws (University Medal, and First Class Honours)
Bachelor of Science (specialising in Mathematics and Computer Science)
In 2013, Aparna completed her Doctorate in Law at Magdalen College, Oxford. She was supervised by Professor Colin Tapper (author of Cross and Tapper on Evidence) and Peter Mirfield (editor of The Law Quarterly Review). Her doctoral thesis included an exhaustive study of more than 500 Court of Appeal decisions dealing with evidence of the defendant’s bad character (s 101 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003). Her research is a valuable resource in her daily criminal practice.
During her time at Oxford, Aparna tutored in several undergraduate law subjects, and edited the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal.
Aparna is frequently instructed in confidential and sensitive matters involving public interest immunity and legal professional privilege. She has acted for HM Treasury, the Home Office, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and for HM Courts & Tribunals Service.
Aparna is a registered public access practitioner and welcomes instructions from members of the public.
Publications
Aparna is the author of A Practical Guide to Bad Character Evidence for Criminal Practitioners, published by Law Brief Publishing, 2021.
Intelligence without immunity: MI5 and the right to crime, (Privacy International & Ors IPT 17 86 & 87 CH) Lexis®PSL on 15/01/2020.
‘Section 74(1) of PACE: restating the limits’, Arch. Rev. 2016, 6, 5-6, concerning the use of s.74 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to admit previous convictions into evidence.
Book Review, Remorse, Penal Theory and Sentencing (by Hannah Maslen, 2015), (2016) 132 Law Quarterly Review 346.
Book Review, Character in the Criminal Trial (by Mike Redmayne, 2015), (2016) 20(2) International Journal of Evidence and Proof: A tribute to Mike Redmayne.
Memberships
- Criminal Bar Association
- Women in Criminal Law
Call: 2013
Specialist Areas
VAT number: 182 6626 88