Retired Supreme Court judge Justice KM Joseph on Saturday said that if Late Justice VR Krishna Iyer were alive today he would have reacted strongly to the disinvestment of public sector companies as he was a socialist at heart.
Justice Krishna Iyer was a socialist, humanist and truly secular, added Justice Joseph.
He was speaking at the 9th Justice VR Krishna Iyer Memorial Law Lecture conducted by the Sarada Krishna Sadgamaya Foundation for Law and Justice at the Kerala High Court Auditorium. The theme of the event was 'Perennial Values of Constitutional Law Discovered by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer'.
Referring to the Insolvency Bankruptcy Code enacted in 2016, Justice Joseph said, "once a resolution is approved, to revive the company, which is the first priority under the Act, thousands of crores of government debt may get swept under the carpet. I don’t know how Justice Iyer would have reacted to that. I don’t know if he came back today how he would have reacted to the disinvestment of public sector companies. I’m not giving my value judgment, but knowing him through his speeches and judgments he would have reacted strongly and independently. He was absolutely fearless," Justice Joseph said.
Justice Joseph said that Justice Iyer dedicated his entire life to the whole world and channelised his personal suffering for attaining the common good of the world. Speaking on the wealth disparity in the country, Justice Joseph said, "today 1% of the Indian population owns about 60-70% of the nation’s wealth. I am wondering how he would have reacted. He was always a socialist and humanist. I’m sure he would not have remained silent".
Justice Joseph said that after his retirement Justice Iyer dedicated his life for public good.
"Fali S Nariman described him as the Chief Justice of the people’s Court. The doors of his house were open to the poor and disadvantaged. This is something he continued till the end, till he was 99 years old. He was fearless and consistent. He was hauled up for contempt of court, I was an amicus in that case. Of course it was dropped because Justice Iyer at his heart had the best interest of the judiciary. His criticism was at cleansing the judicial system" he said.
However, despite being a socialist, he did not pander to the public, Justice Joseph said. "He never wrote a judgment without the juristic underpinnings being solid. He never pandered to the public. He was not a populist judge. As a judge he was very conservative in terms of legal theory" he said.
Justice Joseph described Justice Iyer as a secular, socialist judge. "He drew the conclusion that the constitutional principle of equality, is also reconcilable with the vedantic principle that we are all one, that we are all part of the same divinity. He was doing this alongside while being friendly with the communists, being a socialist. He was spiritual but not religious. He was completely secular. In the aftermath of the Gujarat riots, he went along with another judge to conduct an enquiry on his own" he said.
Justice Joseph described Justice Iyer's judgments as speeches as 'literary gems'. In the span of 7 years and 4 months of being a Supreme Court judge, he left behind a body of 700 judgments. "Not just one page judgments which were very elaborate discussions of law and facts, its incredible that he could do that. Justice Holmes, judge of US Supreme Court in 29 years left behind about 929 judgments. Compare that to what Justice Iyer achieved in a short span of time, he was prolific" he added.
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Speaking at the 9th VR Krishna Iyer Memorial Law Lecture organized by the Sarada Krishna Satgamaya Foundation for Law and Justice at the Kerala High Court today, Supreme Court Judge Justice P.S. Narasimha remarked that eminent judge and jurist Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer was one who transcended religion and region.
Justice Narasimha said that Justice Iyer had embarked on an elaborative discourse on the twin values of Fraternity and Dignity in his decisions. Justice Narasimha added that Justice Iyer had been considerably influenced by the social and cultural milieu of Kerala.
"Justice Krishna Iyer is the product of the cultural and social milieu of Kerala and we cannot forget that."
Justice Narasimha said that Kerala throughout its history has been a fertile ground for spiritual masters, intellectual trial blazers and social reformers. This is a mix of beautiful cultures and regions. He added that Justice Iyer was definitely influenced as "Kerala has a canvass of a universal spirit, that is spiritual consciousness beautifully integrated with social consciousness."
Elaborating on fraternity, Justice Narasimha said that it can be traced to the preamble of the Constitution. Fraternity means the dignity of the individual. He added that fraternity is a universal spirit and dignity is how one treats the other. He further added that the constitutional value is the value of fraternity. Justice Narasimha said that Justice Iyer lived in this cultural and social milieu of Kerala which has imbibed both the values of fraternity and dignity. He said that Justice Iyer had compassion for individuals and strived for the upliftment of weaker sections of people.
He quipped that Justice Iyer had discovered perennial values of the Constitution from many unwritten portions of the document.
"There are unwritten portions of the Constitution which are silent. These are those silent parts of the Constitution which he would've recognized and translated in the interpretation of the Constitution," he said.
Justice Narasimha also mentioned the names of three great ladies of the country who were from Kerala, the only Dalit woman of the constituent assembly- Dakshayani Velayudhan, the first woman judge- Justice Anna Chandy and the first chief Justice of the Supreme Court- Justice Fathima Beevi. Taking the names of these great women personalities from Kerala he said,
"Kerala is a fertile ground for lawyers and judges to develop that attitude, develop that desire to look at the Constitution and interpret closely to that perennial value."
Justice Narasimha said that Justice Iyer was a very hardworking lawyer, he developed his capabilities from time to time through his sadhana. He said that Justice Iyer had a lot of knowledge and he subjected these facts to scrutiny, analyzed it deeply and tested it to see if those facts were truthful or not.
He added that Justice Iyer was also a very active citizen and a lawyer with a heart who would look at the difficulties of his clients. His compassion for people continued throughout his life, even when he was a judge. Justice Narasimha said that Justice Iyer played multiple roles in his life which gave him a vast amount of experiences.
"He was a legislator, he was in the political executive, he was in the law commission. These experiences that he had were invaluable, were used by him to go closer and closer to the truth."
Justice Narasimha went on to speak about the frailty of human life. He added that even when people know the truth they would be reluctant to act upon it. He remarked that 'human vulnerabilities' force people to not accept or act according to the truth. He said that only extraordinary people like Justice Iyer who has sheer will and sadhana could recognize and act towards truth.
"He acted in furtherance of truth and for which he had the courage."
He concluded by saying that Justice Iyer was a combination of capability and courage, which are eternal values not just for lawyers but for all persons.
Chief Justice of Kerala High Court AJ Desai, Attorney General for India R Ventkataramani, former Supreme Court judge Justice KM Joseph also spoke at the event.
.https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/justice-krishna-iyer-product-social-and-cultural-milieu-kerala-justice-narasimha-242501
Justice VR Krishna Iyer Would've Reacted Strongly To Growing Economic Disparities, Disinvestment Of PSUs: Justice KM Joseph
Attorney General of India R. Venkatramani, while speaking at the 9th VR Krishna Iyer Memorial Law Lecture organized by the Sarada Krishna Satgamaya Foundation for Law and Justice at the Kerala High Court yesterday, on the topic 'Perennial Values of Constitutional Law Discovered by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer', remarked that Justice Iyer, whose worldview was deeply anchored in 'Liberty of all, and all for Liberty', regarded Constitution as an instrument of refining all power through the political process and Court as instrument of deliberation and social participation.
According to Venkatramani, Justice Iyer thought that the Court ought to navigate through various schemes and provisions of the document, in order to bring together all institutions in pursuit of liberty for all.
In this regard, the AG enumerated the six perennial values of the Constitution as identified by Justice Iyer, in pursuit of the above, as follows:
1. Equality;
2. Dismantling the blindness of power to all values of liberty;
3. Dismantling monopoly of reason outside the Constitution;
4. Opening up avenues of remedy for every right and need for articulating access to Justice;
5. Empowering the deprived by gender, caste, economic, and other social phenomena; and
6. Proportionality as a tool of legal evaluation.
The AG opined that these perennial values of the Constitution serve as tools for continued articulation of social, economic, and political Justice.
"We need these perennial values as our tools for continued articulation of Justice - social, economic, political. Justice Iyer forayed into institutionalizing democracy and breathing accountability in political and governance process," he quipped.
Venkatramani went on to state that socio-economic rights demand two levels of Constitutional focus - firstly, the articulation of competing claims and their respective fields which may include enumerating layers of rights and interests by interpretive process, which is often the role of the Court, although it deserves to be done in legislative and executive chambers, and secondly, the evaluation of economic and social outcomes, the causes of enforcements, the institutional measures and management of enforcements for all which are not essentially quantified. He added that approaches outside judicial lens are necessary for these matters.
It is here that Venkatramani said that the perennial values identified by Justice Iyer would help guide the way forward, while adding that the legal fraternity would also have to come up with new statements to address emerging challenges.
In this regard, Venkatramani reflected on how Justice Iyer had crafted his philosophy by identifying the afore values. He added that Justice Iyer had first and foremost, emphasized upon opening up avenues of remedy for every right, as well as the need for articulating access to justice.
"For Justice Iyer, access to justice meant using constitution in protecting and delineating liberty and using constitutional tools to advance egalitarian ends," he said.
Venkatramani proceeded to add that access to justice, which has now become a global phenomena embedded in the very basic structure, ought to include access to legislative and executive justice, as well.
On another note, the Attorney General said that elections, legislative debates, print, visual and social media have now become important sites for public mediation, and the emergence of public reason as a vessel for public discourse could thus serve as an important tool for a vibrant democracy to emerge.
Venkatramani thus emphasized upon wise management of the perennial values of the Indian Constitution as identified by Justice Iyer, as the guiding light for the nation to avoid any 'pitfalls and precipices', while stressing upon the need for a new theory of Constitutional courts.
Supreme Court judge Justice PS Narasimha, Chief Justice of Kerala High Court AJ Desai and former Supreme Court judge Justice KM Joseph also spoke at the event.
Justice VR Krishna Iyer Is Product Of Social & Cultural Milieu Of Kerala: Justice P S Narasimha
https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/justice-vr-krishna-iyer-perennial-values-guide-forward-attorney-general-r-venkataramani-242506
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