Not 'Modi's man', says Krishna Iyer

Nonagenarian jurist V R Krishna Iyer, today denied he has warmed up to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, but said 'those who do good work will come in for praise from him'.
"If Modi does good work, I will praise him. Be it Nehru or Modi, whoever does good work, I will praise them," Iyer, who will turn 99 on Nov 15, told a Meet-the-Press programme at the Ernakulam Press club here to honour him.
The former Supreme Court judge denied that he was 'Modi's Man', but said he was impressed with his good work on Solar energy.
Iyer, who was a Minister in the first Communist government of E M S Namboodiripad, had written to the Gujarat Chief Minister extending his best wishes after Modi was made BJP's Prime ministerial candidate. In the letter, Iyer had described Modi as 'someone of virtue with global dimensions'.

However, today Iyer said Modi had come in for his praise as he had launched Solar projects and was the only 'solar state' in the country.
"When I praised Modi for his Solar power projects, people said I am Modi's man. But that is not right. I am not Modi's man. Nuclear power is cancer. I am for solar power", he said, adding he would not hesitate to criticise him for his wrong policies.

When asked if Modi was a better candidate for Prime Minstership than that of Congress, his reply was "I do not know".
The Jurist said Modi had on a visit to Kochi, come to meet him. "Modi came to meet me and I said I had not invited him. He said he was Gujarat Chief minister and wanted to meet him".

Stressing the importance of judicial reforms, he said when a person approaches a court for redressal of his grievance, the case drags on for years and years. That should change. Law reforms were important. For the common man free legal aid should be provided, he said.
When asked for his views about the judiciary now, Iyer's reply was "Do not expect me to criticise the judiciary".
Iyer also refused to react to the discharge of CPI(M) state secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin corruption case.
He said his dream was to set up an institution for free legal aid to the poor.