Vaidyanathapura Rama Krishna Iyer (15 November 1914 - 4 December 2014), popularly known as Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, was a former judge in the Supreme Court of India. He was born at Vaidyanathapuram near Palakkad, in Malabar region of Kerala in a Tamil Brahmin family, but grew up at Koyilandy, also in the erstwhile Malabar district. 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 these sectors. In 1973, he was sworn in as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India; as of 2011, he is the last but one Supreme Court judge to have previously served as a politician. He was conferred with Padma Vibhushan in the year 1999.

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.

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.

Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer is also serving as the President of Kerala Janakeeya Prathirodha Samithi, a state level organisation in Kerala, which is leading and co-ordinating various mass movements and anti-globalisation movements in the state.

He died on December 4 2014

Books

There are 105 published books by V. R. Krishna Iyer which includes four travelogues. Wandering in Many Worlds ( ISBN 978-81-317-1835-3 ) is theautobiography of V.R. Krishna Iyer. There are around five published books by other authors about him.

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 5 December 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 February 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 October 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 November 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.

Death

He died on December 4 , 2014 due to renal and cardiac failure . 3:30pm at Medical Trust Hospital, Kochi.