Vaidyanathapura Rama Krishna Iyer (born November 1, 1915), popularly known as Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, is a former judge in the Supreme Court of India. He was born in a village in Malabar region of Kerala. 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 thse sector. In 1973, he was sworn in as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India; as of 2011, he is the last Supreme Court judge to have previously served as a politician. He was conferred with Padma Vibhushan in the year 1999. He is one of the oldest judges in india