Kochi: The Bar Association of India has asked President Pranab Kumar Mukherjee to confer Bharat Ratna on Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer. The request was conveyed in a letter to the President by Anil B. Divan, president of the Bar Association of India, on January 6.
The association termed Justice Krishna Iyer as a colossus in the Indian legal firmament. “His ideas and thoughts have directly and indirectly revolutionized legal thinking. He has inspired judges both of the Supreme Court and the high courts.
The backward, the underprivileged and the deprived sections of our society now have access to the judicial system largely due to his efforts,” Divan said.
Fali S. Nariman, P.P. Rao, Soli Sorabjee, Ashok Desai, K.K. Venugopal, R.K.P. Shankardass, Dispankar Gupta, K.N. Bhat, Surendra G. Desai, Mukul Rohatgi and Lalit Bhasin have supported the move.
Justice Krishna Iyer recently celebrated his 99th birthday. The association said it would be a timely recognition if the Bharat Ratna were to be conferred on him.
Justice Krishna Iyer was a Suprme Court Judge from 1973 to 1980. He was also the home minister and minister for law, power, prisons, irrigation and social welfare in 1957.
The Bar Association of India is the federation of bar associations and it includes the Supreme Court Bar Association and all leading high court bar associations.
