Krishna Iyer passes away

Kochi: Eminent jurist V R Krishna Iyer, a left-leaning intellectual who had stood for the rights of the downtrodden and reinterpreted bail jurisprudence as a Supreme Court judge, died here on Thursday.

Justice Iyer, who turned 100 on November 13, breathed his last at a private hospital here following multiple organ failure. He is survived by two sons. His wife had predeceased him. The body will be shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor stadium at Kadavanthara here on Friday to enable the public to pay their homage. Funeral will be held at 6 pm.

As a Supreme Court Judge for seven years in the 1970s, Iyer provided easy access to ordinary people by relaxing the rule of locus standi. He defined bail jurisprudence in favour of undertrials when he laid down that "bail, not jail is the rule" and was averse to preventive detentions as a general rule.

In 1975, he stayed the Allahabad HC judgement that unseated Indira Gandhi as MP from Rae Bareli but it was another story that the judgement led to events that culminated in the imposition of Emergency. Eyebrows were raised when he praised Modi after he was named the PM. Earlier, he was critical of him on 2002 riots.

The PM expressed his condolences on Iyer's death. "My association with Justice Krishna Iyer was special. My mind goes back to our conversations & the insightful letters he would write to me," the Prime Minister tweeted.

CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat described Iyer as "a visionary jurist, statesman and champion of human rights". AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu said Iyer gave some of the landmark judgments in the country.