He also headed the Kerala Law Reform Commission in 2009. He had unsuccessfully contested to the post of President against Congress nominee late R. He was conferred with Padma Vibhushan in the 1999. In 2002, Justice Iyer was part of the citizen’s panel that inquired into the Gujarat riots along with retired justice P.B. He also received brickbats for granting conditional stay on the Allahabad High Court verdict declaring former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s election to the Lok Sabha void. He had pushed for reformative theory, in contrast to deterrence theory in the criminal justice system. His landmark judgments include the Shamser Singh case which interpreted the powers of the Cabinet vis-à-vis the President, Maneka Gandhi case which gave a new dimension to Article 21, Ratlam Municipality case, and Muthamma’s case. He served as a Member of the Law Commission from 1971 to 1973. He was elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court on July 17, 1973, and retired on November, 14, 1980. He was appointed a judge of the Kerala High Court on July 2, 1968. He resumed his legal practice in August 1959 and threw himself into the legal profession after he lost the 1965 Assembly election. He was instrumental in passing several pieces of people-oriented legislations during his tenure as minister in the Communist government. Namboodiripad that came to power in 1957. He held portfolios such as law, justice, home, irrigation, power, prisons, social welfare and inland navigation in the first Communist government in Kerala headed by E.M.S. He became a member of the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1952. After starting legal practice in 1937 under his father in the Thalassery courts, he used to appear for workers and peasants in several agrarian struggle-related cases in his early years of practice. Rama Ayyar in 1915 in Thalassery, Justice Iyer had his education at the Basel Mission School, Thalassery, Victoria College, Palakkad, Annamalai University and Madras Law College. He was sworn in as the judge of the Supreme Court on Jand retired at the age of 65 on November14, 1980.īorn to a leading criminal lawyer V.V. Justice Iyer, known for his forthright views, turned 100 recently. He died due to renal and cardiac failure, hospital sources said. Krishna Iyer, passed away at a private hospital in Kochi around 3.30 p.m. Eminent jurist and former Supreme Court judge, Justice V.

M g rajamanikyam