Justice VR Krishna Iyer Would've Reacted Strongly To Growing Economic Disparities, Disinvestment Of PSUs: Justice KM Joseph

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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