Just days after 100th birthday, eminent jurist passes away
Eminent jurist, statesman and human rights activist Justice VR Krishna Iyer passed away on Thursday at a private hospital in Kochi. He was 100. Justice Iyer is survived by two sons. His wife Sarada passed away in 1974.
Doctors said he passed away at 3.30 pm due to a stroke which worsened his renal problem and pneumonia. The former Supreme Court judge had been in hospital for the past ten days for treatment of age-related illnesses. His cremation will take place on Friday evening at Kochi.
The death of the jurist, whom Keralites used to describe as the ‘Patriarch of Justice’, ‘Tower of Justice’, ‘Conscience’, etc, came just a few days after he celebrated his 100th birthday. Kerala had organised a three-day celebration to mark the occasion with various programmes, including a national seminar on law, in Kochi.
Iyer was born in a Tamil Brahmin family to lawyer VV Rama Iyer and Narayani Ammal at Sekharipuram, Palakkad on November 15, 1914. He was drawn to Communism and had served as a Minister in Kerala in the world’s first democratically-elected Communist Government headed by EMS Namboodiripad.
As Supreme Court judge between 1973 and 1980, Justice Iyer pronounced several landmark judgements, which later became guidelines for many law practitioners. In 1975, he had put a conditional stay on the Allahabad High Court judgement that unseated Indira Gandhi as MP from Raebareli. The High Court verdict led to events that culminated in imposition of Emergency.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to Justice Iyer by describing him as a “fine lawyer, eminent jurist, incredible philosopher and above all a phenomenal human being.” The jurist had praised Modi after he was named the prime ministerial candidate in the last General Elections despite criticising him after the 2002 Gujarat riots.
After graduating in law from Madras University, Iyer started his legal career in Thalassery, Kannur. He became Minister in the Namboodiripad Government in 1957 after getting elected from Thalassery. It was during his tenure as law Minister that land reforms were introduced in the State. He went back to his legal career in 1959.
Iyer became a judge in the Kerala High Court in 1968 and a member of the law Commission of India in 1970. During his life as a judge, he pronounced more than 700 judgements, many of which became models of justice for courts even in foreign countries. Justice Iyer wrote more than 70 books apart from several theses.
An untiring activist for human rights, Justice Iyer had been chief patron of many social organizations and rights groups. A recipient of several awards, he was honoured by the nation with a Padma Vibhushan in 1999.
Hundreds flowed into his Kochi residence, Satgamaya, to pay last tributes to him while distinguished personalities like Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan lamented the loss his death had brought to Kerala’s society.