V. R. Krishna Iyer

Vaidyanathapura Rama 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 in a village in Malabar region of Kerala. In 1952, he was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly; in 1957, he became a minister in the first Communist government in Kerala, serving until 1959. 
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; as of 2011, he is the last Supreme Court judge to have previously served as a politician. He was conferred with Padma Vibhushan in the year 1999. He is one of the oldest judges in 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 won the Elections as an Independent, and later pledged support to the Communist government. 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 retired from politics in 1959.
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. Analyzing 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 July 2010, Iyer supported a campaign to introduce Islamic banking and finance into India. "I welcome Islamic finance in India, Islamic finance has proven successful in poverty alleviation and promoting sustainable growth in many countries, including the United States, and it is very relevant in our country where 20 million people are starving," Iyer said.http://arabnews.com/economy/islamicfinance/article90310.ece
In June 2008 Iyer was among several leading jurists and civil rights activist 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. See Arrest of Bahá'í leaders.
==Books==
There are around 70 published books by V. R. Krishna Iyer which includes four travelogues. Wandering in Many Worlds ( ISBN 978-81-317-1835-3 ) is the autobiography of V.R. Krishna Iyer. There are five published books by other authors about him.
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.
The Indian Law (Dynamic Dimensions of the Abstract)2009, Universal Law Publishing
==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==
* Web site of Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer 
* Muslim Law- An analysis of the judgments rendered by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer” By. Dr. Sebastian Champappilly, Southern Law Publishers, Cochin-22
* Muslim Women ( Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act” By Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer, Eastern Book Company, Lucknow.
==External references==
*Judges are Public Servants and not bosses
*Of Justice, Justices and Justicing
*Law of Medical Jurisprudence and Compensation
*Criticism of Courts
*Criticism of Courts
*Case for Council to Choose Judges
*The Patchy Indian Judicial Record
*The Negative Nadir of New Year
*A Courageous Voice of Dissent
*Protect Water Resources against overexploitation
*Cairo, Islamabad, Delhi And Washington D.C.: Unitive Quadrangle through Obama Incarnation
*Obama Wonder Bush Blunder
*Patent Law Patently Unfair
*Appointments and Disappointments
*Not our War
*Activist judiciary: a pro bono fiduciary vis-a-vis operation public interest litigation
*Needed a Renewed Socialist Concern
*Nehru Revisited
*Judiciary- A Reform Agenda-I
*Judiciary-A Reform Agenda-II
*Judiciary and Legislature-I
*Judiciary and Legislature-II
*National Judicial Commission-I
*National Judicial Commission-II
*An Oligarchy of Judges
*Case for Council to Choose Judges
*Contempt Power and Some Questions
*Nehru Revisited
*Criticism of Courts-I
*Criticism of Courts-II
*House Privileges and Courts
*Imperatives before the Judiciary
*House Privileges and Courts
*Living Life King Size-Biographical info
*The Hidden Agenda of TRIPPS
*Doha Delhi Odyssey-Patent Issues
*For Creative Strategy Peace is India's First Charge
*Article 356 should be abolished
*There was no hidden Agenda Mr. Nariman
*Who is afraid of Art.356
*Accord Sans Accountability
*A Democratic Demand
*Needed a Reviewed Socialist Concern
*New Focus—Dynamic Paradigm—and New Accountability for Parliamentary Polls
*Political State and Civil Society
*Unifying Personal Laws
*Sovereignty some questions
*Statesmanship the need of the hour
*Veerappacracy and an oral arbiter
*Taslima is no mean Prisoner
*Swaraj Unto the last
*The Hall of Justice
*The Kashmir Quandary-I
*The Kashmir Quandary-II
*Salutations to dear comrade
*Panchsheel of Swaraj
*The Agra Syndrome
*A betrayal of India's Constitutional Vision
*The right to water
*River Sand and People's Survival
*Review Commission imbroglio-I
*Review Commission imbroglio-II
*Plachimada's right
*Needed a renewed socialist concern
*Marad Massacre
*A questionable instrument
Category:1915 births
Category:Living people
Category:Indian judges
Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan
Category:People from Kerala
Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of India
Category:Candidates for President of India
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Category:1915 births
Category:Living people
Category:Indian judges
Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan
Category:People from Kerala
Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of India
Category:Candidates for President of India