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CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan greets Justice VR Krishna Iyer in Kochi on Wednesday on the eve of his 100 th birthday. (Photo:DC)
Kochi: The period was the beginning of the 1980s. While I was the district and sessions judge at Kozhikode, Mr VR Krishna Iyer was the Supreme Court Judge.
He had come to Kozhikode to visit his brother-in-law, a practising lawyer at the bar, who mentioned me to him. Mr Iyer then suggested that they go for a walk up to my house, which would serve both the purpose of a walk and a visit to my house.
When I was sitting in the veranda of my house, I saw him coming. It was a very unusual sight to have a Supreme Court Judge call upon a district judge. He was at my house for some time, we conversed on various subjects and expressed happiness over the stand I had taken on various cases. That was the humility of Krishna Iyer. He had called on me particularly to congratulate me on my stand in the issue of the maintenance claims of women deserted by their husbands. I learnt of this only later. He was a champion of the issue.
I was always an admirer of Krishna Iyer's and consider most of his judgments as landmarks.
His judgments are reference points
Shamsher Singh vs State Of Punjab on 23 August, 1974: Justice Iyer in a dissenting judgment interpreted the powers of the cabinet and the President. Wherever the Constitution requires the satisfaction of the President or the Governor for the exercise by the President or the Governor of any power or function, the satisfaction required by the Constitution is not the personal satisfaction of the President or Governor but the satisfaction of the President or Governor in the Constitutional sense in the cabinet system of government, that is, satisfaction of his council of ministers on whose aid and advice the President or the Governor generally exercise all his powers and functions.
Municipal Council, Ratlam vs Shri Vardhichand on 29 July, 1980: Justice Iyer wrote: “The budgetary constraints did not absolve the municipality from performing its statutory obligation to provide sanitation facilities.” The verdict is still considered as a landmark in waste management.
PIL: Justice Iyer was part of a bench which first considered a Public Interest Litigation and encouraged the public to come up with PILs. When he was in the Supreme Court, even letters were converted into writ petitions. A letter written by a co-prisoner alleging cruelty was converted into a writ petition and action was taken against the prisoners. He opened the gate of Supreme Court of India to those who could not come in normal course.
Bangalore Water Supply Case: Justice Iyer drafted a new definition of the term ‘industry.’
Jail reforms: Justice Iyer managed to bring in several reforms in jail. In a case, he held that the prisoners should get the benefit of free legal aid and fast hearing. Because of this case, 40,000 prisoners, whose suits were pending in the court, were released from the jail.
Indira Gandhi case: Justice Iyer controversially imposed a conditional stay on the Allahabad High Court verdict declaring former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s election to the Lok Sabha as void.
Jolly George Verghese & Anr vs The Bank Of Cochin on 4 February, 1980You cannot send a person to a civil prison for violating the contractual obligations for not repaying debts.
Hailing from the Malabar, Justice Krishna Iyer made Kochi his second home in 1960 after the dismissal of the EMS ministry in which he was the law minister. He began practicing as a lawyer in the Kerala High Court with 10 juniors assisting him during the time of Chief Justice M S Menon.
His juniors included Sivaraman Nair, who also became a high court judge and barristers Joseph and Sankaran. Known for his ‘advocacies’ in the bar, he was on July 2, 1968, appointed a judge of the Kerala High Court and served for five years till July 17, 1973.
On being appointed member of the Law Commission, he left Kochi and later, on being made a judge of the Supreme Court , he moved to Delhi. Justice Iyer, however, returned to Kochi in 1980 on his retirement from the Supreme Court and since then his home in Kochi, ‘Sadgamaya’ has become a centre of cultural and human rights activities.
( Source : dc )
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