A Compassionate legalist:

Covering the life of Vaidyanathapuram Rama Krishna Iyer

SUBMITTED TO:

Mr. Jeevan Sagar

Faculty Member, English Language

HNLU, Raipur

SUBMITTED BY:

Abhijeet Audichya

B.A.LL. B(Hons.)

SEMESTER I, SECTION-A

Submitted On:

January 15, 2021

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Uparwara Post, Naya Raipur-492002(C.G.)

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.NO TOPIC PAGE NO.

1. Introduction 1

2. Objectives of Study 2

3. Research Methodology 2

4. Scope of Study 2

5. Chapter 1- Life of VR Krishna Iyer aside from Politics 3

6. Chapter 2- Important case laws Judged by Justice Iyer 4

7. Chapter-3 Contribution of Justice Iyer to the Indian Legal 8

Realm

8. Chapter 4- Writings of Justice Iyer and Awards 11

9. Chapter 5- Political Life of VR Krishna Iyer and Post 13

retirement Life

10. Works Cited 14

II
 Introduction:

In this project, we are going to throw some light on the life of highly praised judge and

politician, Justice VR Krishna Iyer.

He was a judge in the high court of Kerala and Supreme court of India. He was also a member

of Law Commission of India for 2 years.

His journey started from Thalassery which was a small town on the Malabar coast in Kannur

district of Kerala. He did his schooling and graduation from there.

Then, he went on to become a lawyer and started practicing in the court. In the beginning of

his career, he began protecting local farmers and peasants from the tyranny of the landlords.

As a judge of the Supreme court of India, he headed the bench in many landmark case laws

like Muthamma case, PN Kaushal case, Maneka Gandhi case etc. which will be dealt with later

on in the coming pages.

He was then elected to the legislative assembly of Madras in 1952 and after reorganization of

states, he was a member of the legislative assembly of Kerala.

Also, he was felicitated with many awards and doctorate from very prestigious universities. He

wrote many books, journals and articles on which we will throw some light later on.

His main aim as a legalist was to reform the Indian judiciary and remove the British influence

from the courts of India.

He wanted to combine the present Indian judiciary with the traditional practices of Indians.

Now we will talk about the life and contribution of VR Krishna Iyer to the Indian legal realm

in detail.

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Objectives of the study:

1. To explore the life of VR Krishna Iyer aside from politics.

2. To study about the important case laws and the contribution of VR Krishna Iyer in the

Indian legal realm.

3. To briefly explore his life as a politician.

4. To find out about his literary works and his autobiography.

Research Methodology:

The project is non-empirical in nature. The project employs secondary sources for fulfilment

of the objectives of the study. The project is descriptive and analytical in nature and various

literatures have been covered from journals, news websites, books, informative videos etc.

Scope of the study:

As the project employs secondary data, availability of the accurate and primary data becomes

an impediment to the study. And as the project is non-empirical in nature, first hand data and

experiences are not taken as a part of the study. The pandemic situation and internet

connectivity also come as a serious limitation to the research.

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 Chapter 1 - Life of VR Krishna Iyer aside from Politics

Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer was brought into the world on fifteenth November 1915, to Lawyer

Rama Iyer, at Palakkad, in the Malabar district of the then Madras State.

He completed his early education in Annamalai and Madras Universities prior to starting his

life as an attorney at his father’s chamber at Thalassery in 1938.

He began safeguarding workers and laborers against the misuse by primitive masters who had

full help of the pilgrim system.

At the point when he challenged torment by the police as a cross examination technique, he

was detained for a month on a created charge of giving legitimate help to socialists.

He was named as a Judge of the Kerala High Court in 1968. He was the Member of Law

Commission from 1971 to 1973. He headed and was related with numerous public and

worldwide associations.

He was delegated as Judge of the Supreme Court of India in 1973. He assumed a significant

part in a period of legal activism, public interest suit, governmental policy regarding minorities

in society.

He acquired notoriety and acknowledgment for his reasonable decisions, for his method of

writing down the decisions and for his authority over the English language.

So, in short, he was born in a lawyer’s family in Kerala after which he studied law from a

domestic university. Thereafter, he started practicing from his father’s chamber in 1938. He

then became a judge in high court of Kerala and the Supreme court of India and also became a

part of Law commission of India for 2 years.

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 Chapter 2 - Important case laws judged by Justice Iyer

VR Krishna Iyer played a significant role as a judge in many cases. He also judged some

landmark cases in the history of India and set a new standard for both the lawyers and judges

of India. He also started some new practices in the courts which will be dealt with later on.

We will be briefly discussing the following 3 significant judgements given by Justice VR

Krishna Iyer and mainly be focusing on the new things introduced by him in the Indian

judiciary through those cases.

1. C.B. Muthamma v Union of India & Ors, 1979

2. Ratlam Municipality v Shri Vardhichand & Ors, 1980

3. Som Praksh Rekhi v Union of India, 1980

Mr. VR Krishna Iyer was seen as a revolutionary legalist who paved the way for modern Indian

judiciary system where the common man is also in a position to get justice and equity in the

society.

He always wanted to make the Supreme court of India available for all the Indians, whether

they be from any background. Also, his judgements are used for references by many senior

lawyers even today, some 40 years after their pronouncement.

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1. C.B. Muthamma v Union of India & Ors, 1979

Facts- The petitioner, CB Muthamma, was a senior IFS (Indian Foreign Service) officer. She

complained that she was denied promotion to grade 1 of the service due to the mere fact that

she was a woman. She was also made to sign an undertaking at the time of joining the service

which asked her to leave the service as and when she gets married and also to face the

consequences of being a woman.

The petitioner further challenged two rules namely rule 8(2) of Indian Foreign Service

(Conduct and Discipline) Rules 1961 and Rule 18(4) of the Indian Foreign Service

(Recruitment, Cadre Seniority and Promotion) Rules 1961 which stated that she had to get a

permission from government to continue the service after her marriage.

Contentions/Issues- 1. Whether there was any discrimination in the system due to which

women had to face harsh consequences?

Judgement- The supreme court of India recognized that there was a sort of discrimination

in the system rules due to which the executives discriminated against the women.

Through this judgement, Justice VR Krishna Iyer broke through the glass ceiling with

gender parity in public employment. He recognized the gender discrimination prevalent

in the public employment services and led the foundation for equality and security in job

for women.

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2. Ratlam Municipality v Shri Vardhichand & Ors, 1980

Facts- In the Ratlam city from the state of Madhya Pradesh, some people reported foul smell

and overflow of sewer lines from their locality. Some cases of open defecation were also

reported owing to lack of toilets and abundance of slums in the locality. They approached the

executive magistrate to order the Ratlam Municipality to address the same. The Ratlam

municipality pleaded financial instability as a reason for delay in work. It also stated that the

people came to the locality on their own after knowing all the problems.

The magistrate ordered the municipality to do the same under the Section 123 of M.P.

Municipality Act of 1961. The municipality approached the High court which upheld the

Magistrate’s decision. Then the case went on to the supreme court of India. It was heard by the

bench of Justice O Chinnappa Reddy and Justice VR Krishna Iyer.

Contentions/Issues- 1. Whether the supreme court of India could order a statutory body to

act on their directions?

Judgement- The Supreme court of India upheld the decision of executive magistrate and the

high court of Madhya Pradesh. It ordered the Municipality of Ratlam to address and resolve

the problem.

Justice VR Krishna Iyer, through this judgement, started a trend for the judges to go

outside the courts and assess all the ground conditions of the case. After this proper

assessment, they must give a fair and impartial judgement.

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3. Som Prakash Rekhi v Union of India, 1980

Facts- The petitioner (Som Prakash Rekhi) was working as a clerk in the Burmah Shell oil

storage Ltd. He worked till the age of 51 and thereafter, he retired and was qualified for pension

services. He was also eligible under one more pension scheme- Employees provident fund and

Family Pension Act, 1952. But in 1976, the Burmah Oil Storage Ltd. was taken over by Bharat

Petroleum Ltd. After that the petitioner’s pension was drastically reduced. This was, as per the

company, due to the continuous withdrawal of money by the petitioner out of this provident

fund and gratuity benefits. The petitioner, then, approached the court to claim that his right to

property was violated.

Contentions/Issues- 1. Whether a writ under the Article 32 of constitution be issued

against the BPCL Ltd., a government company?

2. Whether the definition of state, under Article 12, also includes companies like BPCL?

Judgement- It was held that the shrinkage applied to the petitioner’s pension was not as per

the constitution. And the petitioner should be reimbursed with the remaining pension.

Through this judgement, Justice VR Krishna Iyer expanded the definition of state under

the Article 12 of the Indian Constitution for enforcing the fundamental rights. He

asserted that if the agencies or corporations of the government were absolved from the

definition of state, it may make the system perilous and leave the fundamental rights as a

rarely applied part of our constitution.

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 Chapter 3 - Contribution of VR Krishna Iyer in the Indian legal

realm

1. Role of VR Krishna Iyer in Public Interest Litigation:

Public Interest Litigation means litigation for the preservation of public interest. It is

used in those circumstances by legalists where the party is not itself competent or secure

enough to file the case.

When the term PIL i.e. Public Interest Litigation comes in front of someone, everybody

remembers the name of Justice Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati.

But what people don’t know is that Justice VR Krishna Iyer also had a very significant part in

starting the trend of PIL’s in India.

The chain of PIL’s started in India in the year 1979 when the Advocate Pushpa Kapila

Hingorani filed a PIL in the supreme court to protect the jail prisoners of Bihar Jail.

In another case, Justice VR Krishna Iyer treated one of letters from a jail prisoner as a writ

petition and fought that case successfully.

This tool has, from that time, been used multiple times by multiple persons to protect and

provide justice to the downtrodden, underprivileged and poor section of the society who cannot

afford to file a case by themselves.

Justice Iyer always reiterated that the Supreme court of India should act like Supreme

court for Indians by which he meant anyone from the general public could file the case

and claim justice.

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2. VR Krishna Iyer and Emergency of 1975:

In 1975, the High Court of Allahabad declared that the election of Mrs. Indira Gandhi to the

Parliament was illegal. The government then filed another case in supreme court against this

decision which was heard by Justice Iyer. So, in this case (Indira Gandhi v Raj Narain), he

judged that Indira Gandhi cannot be elected to parliament for 6 years but can hold her post of

Prime Minister of India.

The opposition then filed another case against this decision by Justice Iyer. He was both praised

and criticized for this decision of barring Indira Gandhi from election but allowing her to hold

the past. The opposition then called for her resignation. The very next day she declared a state

of emergency in the country.

3. Role of VR Krishna Iyer in Expanding fundamental rights:

Justice Iyer firmly believed that fundamental rights must not be used in rare conditions. They

could be used by the general public in most of the circumstances where they feel they are being

deprived of their benefits.

In the case of Maneka Gandhi v Union of India, he expanded the meaning of Right to life to

mean Right to live with dignity and personal liberty.

In the case of Som Praksh Rekhi v Union of India (which we have dealt with in the previous

pages), he expanded the meaning of state to mean that any corporation or agency of government

comes under the definition of state under Article 12 of the constitution. This was done in order

to increase the coverage of organizations against which an individual could claim fundamental

rights.

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4. Futuristic thinking of VR Krishna Iyer:

Most of the times, Justice Iyer was way ahead of his contemporaries. His main aim was to

remove the British Influence from the Indian judiciary system and replace it with the traditional

customs of the general public of India.

He was always against capital punishment and believed in rehabilitating the convict rather than

hanging him. He reiterated that even if hanging is easier than healing, every Indian life or every

human life is too precious and must not be hanged in severe circumstances as well.

He advocated using meditation practices like Yoga in the prisons of India, which were used at

that time in USA and Australia.

He firmly believed in the principle – “Bail is the rule and Jail is the exception” which was

regarded as a taboo till then in the judicial system of India.

Also in the case of State of Punjab and Anr v Shamlal Murari and Anr, he asserted that the

technicalities in the law must not become an impediment to providing justice to the general

masses.

He had a strong liking towards expanding the Right to life of the Indian constitution and did so

few times through his judgements. In Prem Shankar Shukla Delhi administration, he ruled that

handcuffs should be used with under trial prisoners in rarest of rare situations.

In the case of Maneka Gandhi v Union of India, he expanded the meaning of Right to life under

the Article 21 of constitution. In the P.N. Kaushal case, he asserted that even if the government

has a good motive behind passing an act, the act can be nullified if the due process of law was

not followed.

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 Chapter 4 – Writings of VR Krishna Iyer and Awards

Justice Iyer was very interested in writing Law journals, articles and books. Most of these were

based on the subject of Law and Jurisprudence. He has also penned down his life journey in

the form of his autobiography “Wandering in many Worlds” and “Leaves from my personal

Life”

Some of his most famous works are-

1. Speaking for the Bench- This book consists of mostly all the landmark judgements

given by Justice VR Krishna Iyer.

2. Our courts on Trial- This book is a collection of Justice Iyer’s speeches and articles.

The main aim of this book is to convey that our judicial system requires lot of structural

changes without which the general masses would not get justice in fair and impartial

way.

3. Death and After- In this book, he discusses about whether death is the ultimate end or

a door to some other world.

4. Leaves from my personal Life- In this book, Justice Iyer tells us about the different

phases of his life- as a student, lawyer, judge, legislator and social reformer.

5. Wandering in Many Worlds- This book also tells us about the life of VR Krishna Iyer

but mainly focuses on his professional services.

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Justice Iyer was felicitated with many awards and doctorates from various organizations

(Padma Vibhushan being the highest honor) for his exceptional knowledge on law and his

professional career. Some of the awards received by Justice VR Krishna Iyer are listed below-

1. Padma Vibhushan Award by the President of India in 1999

2. Soviet Land Nehru Award, 1968- Given to people working towards international

friendship and understanding.

3. Baba Saheb B.R. Ambedkar National Award by the Bharatiya Dalit Sahitya

Akademi

4. Given the Title of 'Living Legend of Law’ by the International Bar Association in

1995 to recognize his exceptional contribution to the legal profession globally and

for commitment to the Rule of Law.

5. M. A. Thomas National Human Rights Award for 1998

6. 'The Order of Friendship', by President Putin in October 2000

7. Distinguished Fellow, Indian Law Institute, New Delhi

8. Honorary Doctorate from University of Calicut

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 Political Life of VR Krishna Iyer and Post Retirement Life

The political career of VR Krishna Iyer was comparatively very short as against his legal career.

He was elected to the Madras legislative assembly in 1952 as an independent candidate. And

after reorganization of states of Madras and Kerala in the late 1956, he became the member of

Kerala legislative assembly.

In the elections of 1957, he was backed by Communist party of India and became a minister in

the government headed by E.M.S. Namboodiripad. He resolved an interstate water dispute

between Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

He opened a lot of courts and started free legal aid for the poor and underprivileged sections of

society as a minister. After the suspension of the state government by the central government

in 1959, he again started legal practice.

In the 1965 state elections, he lost and then never contested state elections. He retired as a judge

in 1980. But he was present at various positions even after his retirement.

He was a part of the enquiry team of the 2002 Gujarat riots. He also led the Kerala law reform

Commission in 2009.

Then, on 4th of December, 2014 due to ill health and old age, he left his world leaving behind

his virtues and futuristic vision. After his demise, his private library was given to National

University of Advanced Legal Research, Kochi.

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 Works Cited

• V. R. Krishna Iyer (2009). Wandering in Many Worlds: An Autobiography. Pearson

Education India. p. 189. ISBN 978-81-317-1835-3.

• Nariman, Fali. "VR Krishna Iyer: The Super Judge". Bloombergquint, 2016,

https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/vr-krishna-iyer-the-super-judge. Accessed

19 Dec 2020.

• Sheshadri, Bharadwaj. "My Favourite English-Man: On Justice V.R. Krishna

Iyer". The Hindu, 2018,https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/my-favourite-

english-man/article24909470.ece. Accessed 19 Dec 2020.

• News, India. "Justice V R Krishna Iyer: Man Who Rescued Supreme Court From

Supreme Shame | India News - Times Of India". The Times Of India, 2014,

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Justice-V-R-Krishna-Iyer-Man-who-

rescued-Supreme-Court-from-supreme-shame/articleshow/45380178.cms. Accessed

19 Dec 2020

• Khan, Tariq. "Remembering The People’S Judge: The Judicial Philosophy Of Justice

Krishna Iyer". Bar And Bench - Indian Legal News, 2018,

https://www.barandbench.com/columns/remembering-the-peoples-judge-the-judicial-

philosophy-of-justice-krishna-iyer. Accessed 19 Dec 2020.

• Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer. Ministry Of Law And Justice, pp. 1-3,

https://lawmin.gov.in/sites/default/files/2015-02-02%20-

%20JUS%20VR%20KRISHNA%20IYER_0.pdf. Accessed 19 Dec 2020.

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