Out at exact 100, Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer is no more Years ago, while journeying in Kerala Express for a vacation, we met a person who joined us from Itarsi. He was from Madhya Pradesh but was going to Eranakulam to be with Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer for a couple of months. During our brief interaction when I asked the reason for his visit to Justice Iyer he become quite nostalgic and was mentioning that for him it was a kind of pilgrimage to an authority of law in Indian judiciary. He was an upcoming barrister and he want to excel in his profession for which he wants the tutelage of the one like V.R.K. In our talk what I could gather was that though Justice Iyer was born and brought up in Palghat district in Kerala, he was one for the whole of India, an authority of law, conscience keeper of India and its interest always uppermost in his mind. Undoubtedly, his views were always leftist which necessarily means for him to keep the interest of the poor, the less privileged in society. A master in Shakespearian English, the one who coined several new words to English language through his judgment many of which runs into several pages that are preserved for reference by legal minds for years to come. While talking to that man from M.P. who joined us then in our journey, he was mentioning that just to live as a humble servant of Justice Iyer for some months to do any work assigned by him, including menial ones, would be a great learning experience, though he was a practicing lawyer but he considered Justice Iyer as a role model, hence, all the trouble to go up to Kochi to be under the feet of his Lordship. Justice Iyer’s real strength was tested during 1975 when the late PM Smt. Indira Gandhi’s election was set aside by the Allahabad High Court and when a celebrated lawyer Nani A. Palkiwala took up that case for Indira Gandhi to vacate the Allahabad High Court’s decision, as otherwise there would be great turmoil in India, Justice Iyer stood to his ground and gave only a conditional stay. The follow up of that was the great national Emergency that literally transformed the Indian political scenario. As we all know how the emergency excesses committed under the late Sanjay Gandhi that remained the dark chapter in post independence Indian political history. All political parties, except the Congress then rallied round the late Jai Prakash Narain to oust the Congress under Indira Gandhi. They succeeded in that in the general election held in 1977 when the first non-Congress Janata Dal coalition govt. under the late Morarji Desai was formed in which the then Jan Sangh, the first offshoot of the Sangh Parivar, a two member party of A.B. Vajpayee and L.K. Advani too was an ally. In a way, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer was a catalyst in turning the very course of Indian polity which thereafter turned a hard journey forward, as the era of coalition politics under two main national parties – the Congress and the Jan Sangh turned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started from then onwards. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, after retirement, came back to settle finally at Kochi, from where he got actively engaged in several social service issues. From time to time, he fired his salvos through his excellent articulation in The Hindu that were read by a vast majority of Indians as that were well versed, contained several learning materials and his own conscience voice. Whenever issues concerning legal and constitutional matters arise, Justice Iyer was in the forefront to express his own views and that really mattered in legal circles. Forthright in expressing his mind that may sometimes hurt many, but his transition from a Communist to a realist and finally a Vedantist was tremendous. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) that took harsh steps like expulsion of one of its MLAs, Abdulla Kutty for his comments on the development made by Narendra Modi in Gujarat was not that harsh towards Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer who too gave a clean chit to Narendra Modi after examining his role in the Gujarat pogrom as per an SC directive. Not only that, Justice Iyer even praised Modi as a good administrator. Yet, most of the hard core leftists held Justice Iyer as their Swami. Someone commented in social networking site on the passing away of this legal luminary and legend of 100 years that ‘the sun of righteousness’ set in Indian jurisprudence. There is surely a vacuum that will be felt for long time to come. There are rare breeds of Justice Iyer’s brand left in Indian judiciary now. A towering personality, an authority of law in its true sense, a true interpreter of humanness while settling complicated cases, the one who coined several lexicons in law ‘howsoever high and mighty a person may, the law of the land is above him/her’ which have wide;y opened the doors of judiciary as the last resort for justice. The current system of PIL (Public Interest Litigation), a practice now a day’s people use and rather misuse too, was borne out of the largesse of Justices like Iyer for more openness in settling human right oriented issues. And that was because of not only having a right head but also a right heart. That really matters where, though Judges are mere mortal beings, but the ones who represents as the replica of an everlasting, heavenly system adopted in imparting justice to needy here in our mortal domain. Yet, when one hears that out of 13 odd Chief Justices so far held the highest judiciary in India, almost 10 were reportedly corrupt and while Justice Iyer was alive, he could also see how a just retired CJI, when offered the gubernatorial post, volunteered and is enjoying the comforts of the Raj Bhawan in the same state of Kerala where this ‘sun of righteousness’ set the other day. And the succeeding CJI, S.M.Lodha, when retired, commented that he would never accept an office of profit under any govt. as he was so disturbed over the interference of the current govt. over matters of replacing the previous system of Colloquium in appointment of Judges in the Supreme Court and High Courts with a new govt. appointed “Judicial Appointment Committee System”. Sadly, that practice too came to fore when the present BJP govt. under the same N. Modi whom Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer gave a clean chit in the worst pogrom in the Gandhi’s land and whom he adored as a good administrator. Whatever that may, Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer lived a full life, 100 years, a century, and that itself stand for enough testimony to his righteousness, as it is a great promise of the LORD Almighty to grant longevity to all those who are righteous before Him. Also, his transition from a Communist (who are generally believed as atheists) to a humanist, being a good fighter for human right issues and then a Vedantist like another former Communist stalwart, S.A. Dange, Justice Iyer too leave behind a legacy that unless one surrender to the Almighty divine being there is hardly any hope of getting the ‘Crown of Life’ from that Master Judge who sit on the White Throne in judgment on whatever one does, either good or evil, while living his/her life in this mortal body.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 08:26:18 +0000
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