Break silence, face probe, Iyer tells ex-CJI

KOCHI - Retired Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer Tuesday dared former chief justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan to break his silence over allegations of wealth amassment by his relatives and suggested that he face a judicial probe.

Also, the Kerala government’s home department Tuesday launched proceedings for a vigilance probe against Balakrishnan’s son-in-law P.V. Srinijin after receiving a letter from Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.

“It is high time Balakrishnan broke his silence over the allegations. The response I received from across the country to my remarks against him shows that it is high time Balakrishnan came out with what he has to say,” Iyer told the media here.

“With more allegations surfacing, it is best that he faces a judicial probe,” added Iyer.

Iyer has been consistently taking on Balakrishnan after he first held a press conference Dec 27 demanding an investigation into how Srinijin, a Congress leader and a lawyer by profession, could acquire immense wealth in just three years.

He stepped up pressure Monday, saying that a former high court judge recently tried to persuade him against raising the matter with the prime minister.

Achuthanandan Monday ordered a vigilance probe against Srinijin on the basis of a complaint by from Shameer, a Kochi resident, and asked state Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to initiate an inquiry.

The home department Tuesday started the proceedings and passed on the chief minister’s letter to the home secretary for further action.

V.R. Krishna Iyer was the law and irrigation minister in the world’s first elected Communist government in 1957 led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad in Kerala.

He was appointed a judge of the Kerala High Court in 1968 and elevated to the Supreme Court in 1973.

He was a member of the apex court bench which passed a landmark ruling directing the government to provide free legal services to the accused in custody.

He retired from the apex court in November 1980.