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V. R. Krishna Iyer

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V.R. Krishna Iyer
Personal details
Born (1915-11-01) November 1, 1915 (age 108)
NationalityIndian
ResidenceErnakulam
WebsiteV.R.Krishna Iyer

V. R. Krishna Iyer (born November 1, 1915), popularly known as Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, is a former judge in the Supreme Court of India. He was born on 1 Novemer 1915 in a village near Palakkad in Kerala. In 1956, he became a lawye and a legislator, and in 1957, a minister in the first communist governemet in Kerala. Having been the minister of law, power, prisons, irrigation and social welfare in the Government of Kerala, he was instrumental in bringing about many significant changes in thse sector. In 1973, he was sworn in as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India.

Career

Justice Iyer was Home Minister and minister for law, power, prisons, irrigation and social welfare in the Government of the State of Kerala following the victory of the Communist Party of India under E. M. S. Namboodiripad in the 1957 elections. He was the originator of Kerala Land Reforms Act, which drastically transformed the land holding pattern among the people of the State of Kerala.

Iyer became a judge of the High Court of Kerala on 2 July 1968. He became a Judge of the Supreme Court of India in 1973. During this time, the Supreme Court interpreted Article 21 of the Constitution of India in the sense that the national government was obliged to provide free legal services to accused persons in custody. He retired from the Supreme Court in November 1980

Iyer has rendered several important judgments involving the interpretation of the Constitution of India and the statutory as well as personal law of Muslims. Analysing and summarizing his judgments, a book titled "Muslim Law- An analysis of the judgments rendered by Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer" has been published in the year 2006.

Public Role

In 2002, Iyer was part of the citizen's panel[1] formed to investigate the Gujarat riots along with retired justices RB Sawant and others. In a revealing testimony to this panel, ex-Gujarat BJP minister Haren Pandya (since murdered) testified that Narendra Modi had called an evening meeting of ministers and instructed officials not to obstruct the Hindu rage following the Godhra train burning[2].

In June 2008 Iyer was among several leading jurists and civil rights activits who signed an open letter urging Iran to abide by international human rights conventions and release the detainees immediately of the leadership of the Bahá'í Faith in Iran.[3] See Arrest of Bahá'í leaders.

Books

Name of the book Year Name of Publisher
Law and the People 1972 Peoples Publishing House, Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi.
Law, Freedom and Change 1975 Affiliated East West Press Pvt. Ltd., 5, General Patters Road, Madras
Law India, Some Contemporary Challenges 1976 University College of Law, Nagpur.
Jurisprudence and Juris-Conscience à la Gandhi 1976 Gandhi Peace Foundation, 221/3-Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, New Delhi-2
Social Mission of Law 1976 Orient Longmans Ltd., 160, Anna Salai, Madras-2
Law & Social Change and Indian Overview 1978 Publication Bureau, Punjab University, Chandigarh
Social Justice and the Handicapped Humans 1978 The Academy of Legal Publications, Punnan Road, Trivandrum-695001
The Integral Yoga of Public Law and Development in the Context of India 1979 The Institute of Constitutional & Parliamentary Studies, Vithal Bhai Patel House, Rafi Marg, New Delhi
Of Law & Life 1979 Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 20/4 Industrial Area, Ghaziabad, U.P.

Awards and Distinctions

  • LLD (Doctor of Laws) Honoris Causa by Annamalai University.
  • Soviet Land Nehru Award, 1968.
  • Sri. Jehangir Gandhi Medal and Award for Industrial Peace, 1982.
  • Fellow, Indian Society of Criminology.
  • Distinguished Fellow, Indian Law Institute, New Delhi.
  • The Kumarappa - Reckless Award, 1988. Awarded by The Indian Society of Criminology and earlier by the TATA Institute of Social Science, Bombay.
  • Shri. Dasharathmal Singhvi Citation & Award, 1990, conferred by the Banaras Hindu University.
  • Honorary Fellow, Indian Association For Environmental Management, Nagpur-1990.
  • Honorary Member, Rotary Clubs of Cochin and Trivandrum South. Recipient of For the Sake the Honour Award, Coimbatore And Cannanore.
  • Baba Saheb B.R. Ambedkar National Award by the Bharatiya Dalit Sahithya Academy.
  • Ramasramam Award 1992.
  • Naresh Chandran Sen Gupta Gold Medal for the year 1992, awarded by the Asiatic Society, Calcutta.
  • LL.D (Honoris Causa) awarded by the National Law School of India University, in 1995, Bangalore (India) and Bhagatpur University, Calcutta (India).
  • D. Lit. Conferred by Dakshnina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha.
  • Title of 'Living Legend of Law' awarded by the International Bar Association in 1995 in recognition of outstanding service to the legal profession internationally and for commitment to the Rule of Law.
  • D. Lit. conferred by the North Bengal University in 1998.
  • M.A. Thomas National Human Rights Award for 1998.
  • Manava Seva Award by Rotary International.
  • Padma Vibhushan Award by the President of India (the Highest Award next to Bharath Ratna).
  • Gold Medal for delivering the VIV FIAMC World Congress Oration on December 5, 1999 in Mumbai.
  • Recipient of Vyloppilli Award 1999 for the meritorious service in the fields Human Rights, law, administration etc. The Award was given in February 2000 by the Sahrudaya Vedi, Thrissur.
  • Recipient of Manavasamanvaya Award by Kerala Sanskrit Academy, Thrissur on 28-02-2000.
  • Recipient of Award from Assembly for Guidance and Service for the meritorious service in the field of Human Rights - May 2000.
  • Recipient of C. Kesavan Memorial Keerthimudra award in recognition of the meritorious service in the field of Human Rights - May 2000
  • Recipient of award on 4.10.2000. THE ORDER OF FRIENDSHIP, the greatest Russian Government Decoration for personal contribution to the cause of strengthening friendly ties of traditional and time tested friendship, co-operation and everlasting affection between two great Nations.
  • Recipient of State Award for non-medical person from the I.M.A amounting to Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) on 12.11.2000. The award received at the 44th State Annual Conference of the I.M.A at Trivandrum.
  • Recipient of Capital Foundation Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of Judicial Reforms.

References

  1. ^ http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=13475
  2. ^ http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=Ws090509Ram_Puniyani.asp
  3. ^ "Iran asked to stop persecution of Baha'is", The Tribune, Chandigarh, India, The Tribune Trust, 2008-06-19{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

External references

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