Jurist with a heart (1915-2014)
Justice Vaidyanathapura Rama Krishna Iyer, who was born in Thalasery in Kerala on 15 November 1915, passed away at Kochi on 4 December 2014, after celebrating his 100th birthday in November. The learned judge who graduated in law from the Madras Law College, learnt the ropes from his father, eminent criminal lawyer V.V. Rama Iyer. Justice Krishna Iyer had a brief brush with politics when he won an election to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1952. When the first government in Kerala was formed under the chief ministership of the CPM (Communist Party Marxist) leader E. M. S. Namboodiripad, V. R. Krishna Iyer was inducted into the ministry and held several portfolios including law with great distinction. A humanist right from his early days, Justice Iyer during his stint as minister was instrumental in the passing of several legislative measures that directly benefited the common man. However, a defeat in a subsequent election in 1965 left him disillusioned and he bid adieu to politics. As later events were to prove, the loss to politics was to be a gain for the judiciary.
Justice Iyer served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India from 1973 to 1980 and this was a golden period in the history of the country’s judiciary. Among his many judgments that changed the face of the country’s history was the one where he granted a conditional stay of the Allahabad High Court verdict unseating Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and disqualifying her for a period of six years. Although he was pilloried by the opposition parties for granting a conditional stay, his refusal to grant an unconditional stay won him many admirers. This judgment in a way led to the imposition of Emergency in the country as Indira Gandhi, hemmed in on all sides by a united opposition, declared emergency and jailed all the opposition leaders. Justice Iyer’s judgments never failed to reflect his vision of the judicial system as an instrument of correction and not retribution. All through his life he was a keen votary of the need for abolition of capital punishment.
After his retirement from the bench, Justice Iyer remained till his last days a champion of the poor and the downtrodden. Countless were the number of cases that he argued pro bono. Along with Justice P. N. Bhagwati, Justice Iyer laid the foundation for the introduction of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) mechanism. His path breaking judgments, always written in flawless English, humanised law and were always in consonance with his vision of reformative justice. As a champion of civil liberties, Justice Iyer was always in the forefront of agitations held to battle against any infringement of individual freedom, and he even participated in a dharna at the age of 99. A brilliant orator, he could hold audiences spellbound with his speeches in both English and Malayalam. Justice Iyer’s passion for law was equalled by his flair for writing. He authored over 70 books on various topics with law and travelogues predominating in his choice of subjects. Justice Iyer’s autobiography Wandering in many worlds was a best seller and an excellent read. He also penned hundreds of articles for newspapers and periodicals. His advancing years neither dimmed his vision nor his firm commitment to the causes that he espoused with great zeal and vigour.
He was hailed as the Bhishma Pitamah of Indian judiciary by one of his illustrious contemporaries, former Chief Justice of India Justice A.S.Anand. Another of India’s celebrated lawyers Fali Nariman opined that when Justice Iyer spoke, the nation listened. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his message described Jusitce Krishna Iyer as a fine lawyer, eminent jurist, incredible philosopher, and above all, a phenomenal human being. Justice Iyer who was conferred with the country’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan in 1999, was a man of simple tastes and spartan habits. Stalwarts like him who always portrayed the benign face of the judiciary come but rarely, and he will remain enshrined in public memory, for verily he was a jurist with a heart.