Off the Bench

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Description
It is customary that every book has a preface or phenomenon telling the reader something about the pages allow brief vignette of the author and his faith and a few luminous lines in justification of the publication. For this reason, the Universal-a fine young Manish Arora who is selective, thoughtful and bringing to the Indian reader foreign books of great value-richly contributes to the treasury of legal literature. He suggested to me that I do pen a preface to a collection of my writings which he propose to print and publish. The touch of affection behind this suggestion made a sentimental appeal and so I consented. Frankly, I am aware how unworthy I am of the honour of my casual writings being presented by a prestigious publisher, to the public, especially because the random essays do not make an ensemble or group constituting an organic whole nor a collage of attractive prose fragments glued together. The writer-poor meat am not flattered and request be dismissed as a maverick, anti-establishment individualist, with no claim to fame, no title to distinction, no high office as incumbent and no Party politics or other organization to back or boost this man near oblivion, having crossed four score and five in life. I have, if an autobiographical note may interrupt the flow, been a Fabian, a Shavian and Nehruvian from college days and liked the spirit of revolt in both. To make my point, I quote a passage from Bernard Shaw:
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Contents
•    Before the Emergency and after
•    Justices and Justicing
•    Indian Judicature - Millennial Transformation
•    The Noble Preamble: We Have Promises to Keep
•    Judicial Power - A Management Mess?
•    Judicial Moderation and Majesty of Justice
•    Why Stultify Judges’ Status?
•    Venal-Venial Journalism and Vulnerable Judicialism
•    Rarest of the Rare
•    Motilal Setalvad - A Mellow Magnificent Self-Portrait
•    Quo Vadis India?
•    M.C. Chagla - The Centenary of A Judicial Statesman
•    Gait, Trips, Patent Law
•    Human Health and Patent Law
•    To be or not to be
•    The Juristic Manifesto of the Human Person-Indian Perspective
•    Environmental Tribunal
•    Are not Women Human Even when in Custody?
•    The Indian Scenario of Human Rights- Vintage 1999
•    India, that is Bharat : Chaos in the Cosmos
•    Human Rights Praxis : Hope or Despair?
•    The Police, Human Rights, and Policing the Police
•    Crime against Women and Children
•    Human Rights now and the Ominous Millennium Ahead
•    Hara-Kiri of Democracy or Power Grab Adventurism
•    Globalization - Vanishing National Economics and Diminishing Labour Survival
•    Environmental Maladies and Judicial Remedies
•    Contempt Power - Cipherise its User
•    An Anguished Afterword
•    Bharat! a Tryst Betrayed and a Tragedy Engineered
•    Equal Justice and Constitutional Law
•    Dalits, Women and Environmentalists - Crisis Escalation and Resolution
•    Kerala on the March (Decentralised Democracy and Developmental Advance)
•    Bhagavan Satya Sai Baba : a Human Incarnation with Mission of Compassion
      and Liberation
•    The Constitution Revisited
•    Prime Minister Vajpayee : A Plaintive Plea for Bharat
•    Constitutional Conundrum of a Caretaker Government
•    Science, Religion and the Dharma of Social Development
•    Pro Tem Caretaker and Parameters of Power Society, Law and Science
•    The Regional Media and the Democratic Process
•    Veerappacracy and an Oral Obiter
•    Cabinet Sans Confidence of House -
•    A Cabal in Power or Pro Tem Caretaker by Courtesy- Some
      Constitutional Perceptions
•    The Gerontic Age and Sunset Stage of Indian Life
•    Future Shock or Better Tomorrow
•    Glory of God-Myth or Truth or both
•    Indian Saga under British Raj in the Thirties-a Report by a British Delegation
•    Bihar in Flames
•    Wto Ho!
•    Don't be Trapped by Trips
•    Quo Vadis Parliamentary Pandemonic Process?
•    Bhagawadgita - Some Reflections
•    Contempt Power - A Case of Survival after Death!
•    A Crime, A Crime by a Crude Khaki Crowd
•    An Epilogue to the Olio
•    Statesman Par Excellence
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Author Details
Justice V. R. Krishna lyer, Mr. (Vaidyanathapuram Rama Ayyar) Krishna lyer is, to borrow a Supreme Court idiom, one of those "rarest of rare" individuals who combines activism with restraint, politics with dignity, scholarship with humanism and service with humility. An able lawyer, an astute legislator, an ardent law reformer, a dynamic Minister in Government, and activist judge who perfected judicial craftsmanship to meet social justice and human rights goals, a prolific writer in several languages, and a great lover of sports, animals, books and travel, Justice lyer is indeed a role model to many in law, politics and social work.
Born on 15 November, 1915 in northern Kerala and educated in Annamalai and Madras Universities, Mr. Krishna lyer practised law and involved himself in the defense of peasants and workers who were unjustly exploited by the feudal lords with the support of the then colonial regime. In 1948 he was jailed for his alleged links with Communist elements. In the General Elections held in 1956, Mr. lyer was elected initially to the Madras Legislative Assembly and later after reorganisation of States, to the Kerala Assembly where he was chosen as Minister in charge of important portfolios like Home, Law, Social Welfare and Irrigation.
Appointed Judge of the Kerala High Court in July 1968 and as Member of the Indian Law Commission two years thereafter, Mr. lyer demonstrated his tremendous capacity to relate law to social needs and social justice. He believed that "law is what law does" and invoked the judicial process imaginatively and creatively instilling new hopes in the minds of millions of his countrymen. The Report of the Expert Committee on Legal Aid commissioned by the Government of India under his Chairmanship is the foundation for all legal aid developments later in the country. The Supreme Court of India beckoned him in 1973 and then followed an era of judicial activism, public interest litigation, affirmative action through Courts and a wide ranging exercise of Judicial review for which the Indian Judiciary is today well known throughout the world. Through his tenure in the Apex Court was relatively short, he left an indelible impression in the public mind on the nature and scope of judicial power which continues to inspire lawyers and judges both within the country and outside.
Author of innumerable books and articles and leading member of several social organisations and professional bodies, Mr. Justice lyer, young at 80, is an Honorary Visiting Professor of the National Law School and a promoter of its Community Law Reform Programme. He is honoured by several coveted awards and distinctions from various organisations from around the world.
It is difficult to comprehend in this brief citation the varied accomplishments of the man who gave Indian Jurisprudence a people-oriented vision and put the judiciary in the cent re-stage of constitutional politics. Suffice it to say that there is no Indian Judge till date, living or dead, on whom two (three) doctoral theses have been written by scholars in two (three) different Universities. Mr. Justice V.R. Krishna lyer has that distinction.
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