V. R. Krishna Iyer

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Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer
Personal details
Born(1914-11-15)15 November 1914
Palakkad, Malabar district, Madras Presidency, India
Died4 December 2014(2014-12-04) (aged 100)
Kochi, Kerala, India
ResidenceErnakulam
AutobiographyWandering in Many Worlds

Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer (15 Nov 1914 - 4 Dec 2014) was a distinguished judge of the Supreme Court of India who reformed the criminal justice system by standing up for the poor and the underprivileged as a judge, a minister earlier, in Kerala and remained a human-rights champion,[1] a crusader for social justice and environment,[2] and a doyen of civil liberties, post-retirement.[3][4] He was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan in the year 1999.

Birth & Early Years

Justice Vaidyanathapura Rama Krishna Iyer was born at Vaidyanathapuram near Palakkad, in the Malabar region of the then Madras State in a Tamil Brahmin family, but grew up at Koyilandy, Malabar district. He studied law from Madras, practicing at Thalassery, Malabar.[4] In 1948, he was imprisoned for a month on charges of giving legal-aid to 'communists'.

Public Life

Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1952, from Thalassery as a non-party, independent candidate.[4] He held the portfolios of law, justice, home, irrigation, power, prisons, social welfare and inland navigation as a minister in the first communist government in Kerala headed by E.M.S. Namboodiripad that came to power in 1957. He initiated free legal aid to the poor, jail reforms incorporating the rights of prisoners and started more courts.[4] He got several people-oriented laws passed.

He resumed legal practice in August 1959. He lost the 1965 assembly election, contesting again as an independent candidate. He was appointed a judge of the Kerala High Court on July 2, 1968. He was a member of the Law Commission from 1971 to 1973 where he drafted the first comprehensive report on legal-aid, which later lead to the free legal-aid movement in the country.[4] He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on July 17, 1973.

His landmark judgments include the Shamser Singh case which interpreted the powers of the Cabinet vis-à-vis the President, Maneka Gandhi case which gave a new dimension to Article 21, Ratlam Municipality case, and Muthamma's case. He also received brickbats for granting conditional stay on the Allahabad High Court verdict declaring former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha void. By imposing strict conditions on death sentences he made them a rarity. He made bail conditions humane and directed the government to provide free legal-aid to detainess in prisons facing charges.[4]

Along with Justice P. N. Bhagwati, he laid the foundations for the induction of PILs (Public Interest Litigations) in the country with a series of cases,[5] when in one such case, he treated a prisoner’s letter posted from jail as a writ petition,[6] commenting:[1]

"Freedom behind bars is part of our constitutional tryst...If wars are too important to be left to the generals, surely prisoners’ rights are too precious to be left to the jailors"

This revolutionary tool, initially used by public-spirited citizens to file PILs on behalf of sections of society unable to on their own, continues to bring in unheard changes in the day-to-day lives of the people even now, decades later.[7]

He retired as a judge, on November 14, 1980. He stood for the nation's President in 1987 against R. Venkitaraman, the Congress party nominee, who eventually, would assume office.

In 2002, Justice Iyer inquired into the Gujarat riots as part of a citizen's panel, with retired Justice P.B. Sawant among others. He also headed the Kerala Law Reform Commission in 2009.

100 Years & Death

His 100th birthday was celebrated in Kochi in November, 2014 and a number of programmes were organised by members of the legal fraternity, citizenry and his friends and well-wishers to felicitate him. He had been actively involved in social and political life after retirement, almost till a few weeks when ill-health and advancing age took their toll on him.

He died at 3:30pm, 4 December 2014, aged 100 due to renal and cardiac failure at Medical Trust Hospital, Kochi.[8][9][10][11]

Justice Iyer's wife predeceased him. He is survived by two sons.

Books

He has to his credit around 70 books, mostly on law, and four travelogues. He has also authored a book in Tamil, Neethimandramum Samanvya Manithanum. There are 105 published books by V. R. Krishna Iyer which includes four travelogues. Wandering in Many Worlds ( ISBN 978-81-317-1835-3 ) is the autobiography of V.R. Krishna Iyer. There are around five published books by other authors about him.

Name of the book Year Publisher
Law and the People 1972 Peoples Publishing House, Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi.
Law, Freedom and Change 1975 Affiliated East West Press Pvt. Ltd., 5, General Patters Road, Madras
Law India, Some Contemporary Challenges 1976 University College of Law, Nagpur.
Jurisprudence and Juris-Conscience à la Gandhi 1976 Gandhi Peace Foundation, 221/3-Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, New Delhi-2
Social Mission of Law 1976 Orient Longmans Ltd., 160, Anna Salai, Madras-2
Law & Social Change and Indian Overview 1978 Publication Bureau, Punjab University, Chandigarh
Social Justice and the Handicapped Humans 1978 The Academy of Legal Publications, Punnan Road, Trivandrum-695001
The Integral Yoga of Public Law and Development in the Context of India 1979 The Institute of Constitutional & Parliamentary Studies, Vithal Bhai Patel House, Rafi Marg, New Delhi
Of Law & Life 1979 Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 20/4 Industrial Area, Ghaziabad, U.P.
Life After Death[12] 2005 DC Books, Kottayam
Wandering in Many Worlds[13] 2009 Pearson Education
The Indian Law (Dynamic Dimensions of the Abstract) 2009 Universal Law Publishing

Awards and distinctions

  • LLD (Doctor of Laws) Honoris Causa by Annamalai University.
  • Soviet Land Nehru Award, 1968.
  • Sri. Jehangir Gandhi Medal and Award for Industrial Peace, 1982.
  • Fellow, Indian Society of Criminology.
  • Distinguished Fellow, Indian Law Institute, New Delhi.
  • The Kumarappa – Reckless Award, 1988. Awarded by The Indian Society of Criminology and earlier by the TATA Institute of Social Science, Bombay.
  • Shri. Dasharathmal Singhvi Citation & Award, 1990, conferred by the Banaras Hindu University.
  • Honorary Fellow, Indian Association For Environmental Management, Nagpur-1990.
  • Honorary Member, Rotary Clubs of Cochin and Trivandrum South. Recipient of For the Sake the Honour Award, Coimbatore And Cannanore.
  • Baba Saheb B.R. Ambedkar National Award by the Bharatiya Dalit Sahithya Academy.
  • Ramasramam Award 1992.
  • Naresh Chandran Sen Gupta Gold Medal for the year 1992, awarded by the Asiatic Society, Calcutta.
  • LL.D (Honoris Causa) awarded by the National Law School of India University, in 1995, Bangalore (India) and Bhagatpur University, Calcutta (India).
  • D. Lit. Conferred by Dakshnina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha.
  • Title of 'Living Legend of Law' awarded by the International Bar Association in 1995 in recognition of outstanding service to the legal profession internationally and for commitment to the Rule of Law.
  • D. Lit. conferred by the North Bengal University in 1998.
  • M.A. Thomas National Human Rights Award for 1998.
  • Manava Seva Award by Rotary International.
  • Padma Vibhushan Award by the President of India in 1999 (the Highest Award next to Bharath Ratna).
  • Gold Medal for delivering the VIV FIAMC World Congress Oration on 5 December 1999 in Mumbai.
  • Recipient of Vyloppilli Award 1999 for the meritorious service in the fields Human Rights, law, administration etc. The Award was given in February 2000 by the Sahrudaya Vedi, Thrissur.
  • Recipient of Manavasamanvaya Award by Kerala Sanskrit Academy, Thrissur on 28 February 2000.
  • Recipient of Award from Assembly for Guidance and Service for the meritorious service in the field of Human Rights – May 2000.
  • Recipient of C. Kesavan Memorial Keerthimudra award in recognition of the meritorious service in the field of Human Rights – May 2000
  • Recipient of award on 4 October 2000. THE ORDER OF FRIENDSHIP, the greatest Russian Government Decoration for personal contribution to the cause of strengthening friendly ties of traditional and time tested friendship, co-operation and everlasting affection between two great Nations.
  • Recipient of State Award for non-medical person from the I.M.A. amounting to Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) on 12 November 2000. The award received at the 44th State Annual Conference of the I.M.A at Trivandrum.
  • Recipient of Capital Foundation Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of Judicial Reforms.

References

  1. ^ a b Dam, Shubhankar. "Criminal Rights and Constitutional Wrongs: A View from India (page 718)" (PDF). Singapore Academy of Law Journal. (2013) 25 SAcLJ. pp. 714–735. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  2. ^ Preston, Hon. Justice Brian J. "A précis of Justice Krishna Iyer 's contribution to the environmental jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of India (5 August 2013)" (PDF). The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, Australia. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  3. ^ "A voice for the poor and deprived fades away". The Hindu(Kochi Bureau). 4 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Philip, Shaju (5 December 2014). "Former Supreme Court judge V R Krishna Iyer dead". The Indian Express (Thiruvananthapuram). Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  5. ^ Preston, Hon. Justice Brian J. "A précis of Justice Krishna Iyer 's contribution to the environmental jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of India (5 August 2013)" (PDF). The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, Australia. p. 7. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  6. ^ Forster, Christine M. (University of New South Wales, Sydney); Jivan, Vedna (University of Technology Sydney, Sydney) (2008). "Public Interest Litigation and Human Rights Implementation: The Indian and Australian Experience" (PDF). Asian Journal of Comparative Law. The Berkeley Electronic Press. p. 16. Retrieved 8 December 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Andhyarujina, T. R. (6 August 2012). "Disturbing trends in judicial activism". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Former Supreme Court judge V R Krishna Iyer passes away at 100". NetIndian. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Leaving a light, Justice Krishna Iyer passes away". Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Justice VR Krishna Iyer passes away". Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Justice VR Krishna Iyer, eminent jurist, dies in Kochi". Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  12. ^ "The Hindu : Book Review / Language Books : Life after death". hindu.com.
  13. ^ "Wandering in Many Worlds"
  • Muslim Law- An analysis of the judgments rendered by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer" By. Sebastian Champappilly, Southern Law Publishers, Cochin-22
  • Muslim Women ( Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act" By Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer, Eastern Book Company, Lucknow.

External links

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