Ex SC judge bats for Reliance in Kerala

Former Supreme Court Judge V R Krishna Iyer has said that Reliance should be given a chance to do business in Kerala and suggested that the business house operate through existing retailers.

At a time when the CPI(M)-led LDF government has vowed to take effective steps to regulate corporate retailers, Iyer, a member of the E M S Namboodiripad led first Communist government in the state, has come out in support of Reliance.

The corporate house has opened three retail outlets in Kochi and in some other parts of the state.

In a letter to Eby Mathews, Chief Executive, Reliance Retail Ltd, a copy of which was released here, Iyer said that "the state must be vigilant in watching and controlling big business, solely from the angle of people's well being, not dogmatic or propagandist ideology."

He suggested that existing retailers not be thrown out of employment as unemployment was a 'besetting evil of exploitative capitalism'.

He urged Reliance to operate through existing retailers and said that the lesser prices at which products are supplied should be passed on to customers.