A Man Who Walked The Road Less Travelled

The life and times of Justice Krishna Iyer is, in itself, a festival that coronates the most fitting of any memory. He was the Peoples' Emperor of Hearts and often the final refuge for many who had exhausted all remedies. He was thought of as the magical panacea for all ills of the society; and the confidence and belief in him, of those who came seeking his help was absolute. I have always felt that Justice Iyer was aware of this; and that at least at times, he was overwhelmed by such tremendous expectations. He lives on in the hearts of the multitudes of men and women, who he touched with his kindness and empathy. He is undoubtedly the tallest jurist who walked this part of the world; and no amount of hyperbole would justify his extra ordinary and prodigious contributions to every facet of human life and endeavour.

Born in 1914 to an equally illustrious father and a tall lawyer himself -- Sri.V.V.Rama Iyer, in a small hamlet in Palakkad, Justice Iyer's full name -- as Justice Balakrishnan Nair mentioned -- is Vaidyanathapuram Rama Iyer Krishna Iyer. He completed his legal studies from Madras and began his commendable legal practice in the year 1938, joining his father's chambers.

Driven by idealism and socialistic dreams, he began to engage himself in farmer's struggles; and, as he himself wrote “Gently I became a public figure of sorts without party affiliation”. In 1948, Justice Krishna Iyer was wrongly accused of conniving with alleged fissiparous elements and arrested. History shows that the Government of Madras could not justify his arrest and that he was exonerated, but only after having to spend about a month in jail. As it is sometimes said, every event in life has some purpose, ordained by destiny behind it. As George Gadbois Jr. Observed: “Justice Iyer's first hand experience of jail conditions and the inhuman treatment of prisoners began his life time passion for prison reforms and the treatment of prisoners as human beings”.

Justice Iyer was thereafter elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly as an independent, supported by the Communist Party. In 1957, after the re-organisation of the States, he was elected to the Kerala State Legislative Assembly, which led to the formation of the first ever communist led Government in India. Justice Iyer was entrusted with major portfolios like inland navigation, power, prisons, social welfare, agriculture, etc., which stand testimony to the trust that the then Chief Minister - Sri.E.M.S.Namboodiripad had on him as an intellectual and a humanist. In 1959 this Government was dismissed; and between that year and 1968, Justice Iyer flirted with electoral politics even as he resumed his practice at the Bar. In the year 1966, my father joined him as a junior in his chambers and he recounted how busy Justice Iyer was, as a lawyer in great demand, both by the elite and the common alike.

Justice Iyer's political leanings fortunately never disqualified him from being considered for appointment as a Judge of this Court; and he was sworn in as one, on 12th July, 1968.

Justice Iyer's progressive vision and pragmatic capabilities were fittingly recognised when he was appointed as a Member of the Law Commission in September 1971; and thereafter as a Judge of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 17th July, 1973.

During his legendary stint in the Supreme Court till November 1980, Justice Iyer democratised judicial remedies and gave parturition to the concepts of Public Interest Litigation and epistolary jurisdiction. He imparted a literary touch to his judgments, ignoring the traditional pattern – many of them pure poetry in action, as was also mentioned by Justice Balakrishnan Nair. He exemplified devotion to human rights, using International Covenants and weaving them into the Indian jurisprudence by hermeneutic humanism. His vision was recognised world over and Lord Leslie George Scarman, the great English Judge, wrote to Justice Iyer that he was moved by his passionate judgments in Ediga Annamma v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Rajendra Prasad v. Uttar Pradesh. In a private conversation, Justice Iyer, many years later, told me that these two decisions, where he set aside death sentences, gave his soul great amount of solace.

I had once asked Justice Iyer what his guiding principles in his role as Judge were. In his inimitable style, he said it were four and described them thus: The first lesson he said, fundamental to life and law, is humility without hubris and humanist hearing without “high bench” attitude; the second - which he said touched his judicial heart - was the compassionate treasury of the preamble to the Constitution, particularly the words in its exordium “we, the people of India”; the third, was to hear either side fairly since courage and independence obliged him to give even “the devil its due”; and finally, Justice Iyer told me that his life has taught him that perfect justice is a mirage and that in pursuit of this illusion, we ought not to jeopardise that justice which is within our grasp.

Justice Iyer's zeal and devotion to human rights, his rectitude and uprightness in issues relating to the most marginalized; his devoutness to the constitutional imperatives and values -- which he described variously as immutable, sacrosanct and sublime -- have made him an empyrean phenomemen on the legal and societal firmament, never seen earlier and may never ever be after him.

Author is a Judge, High Court of Kerala. Views Are Personal.