Justice Krishna Iyer is 100 - PM Greets
GREETING Justice Krishna Iyer on his 100th birthday, Prime Minister Modi tweeted,
Warm birthday wishes to an icon in Indian public life, Justice VR Krishna Iyer as he turns 100. I pray that he is blessed with good health. Legal luminary, philosopher and intellectual, Justice Krishna Iyer is an Institution in himself, who dedicated his life to the Nation. Justice Iyer's life and works are an inspiration to all of us. My interactions with him have been very enriching. I learnt a lot from him.
58 Years ago, he was a Minister in the First Communist Government in Kerala. Fate brought him to the Supreme Court Bench and since then judicial writing has been elevated to a standard hard to reach and impossible to surpass.
The Judge is exalted as Lawgiver and Prophet in the Temple of Justice. He must have the wisdom of Solomon, the moral vision of Isaiah, the analytic power of Socrates, the intellect creativity of Aristotle, the humanity of Lincoln and Gandhi, and the impartiality of the Almighty.
Measured by these expectations every Judge is something of a disappointment. But it seems there are three exceptions.
++ Late Lord Denning in England
++ Late Justice Douglas of the United States Supreme Court
++ Justice Krishna Iyer
He once told the Chief Justice, "one great lesson that appointing authorities must remember is that a person who is not able to weep at the sight of human suffering and respond with quick compassionate action should not be chosen as a Judge".
In Justice Iyer observed,
The command of the law can claim the allegiance of the law only by simplicity in legislation.
To return what has been taken wrongly is as much a duty and grace of government as to levy relentlessly and fully what is due. Default in either, not altogether unfamiliar, brings down the confidence of the community in the administration.
Justice Krishna Iyer is a National Asset.