India’s first woman Supreme Court judge, Justice Fathima Beevi, dies at 96

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Nov 23, 2023: Justice M. Fathima Beevi, the first woman judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court of India, died on Thursday at the age of 96. She was also the first Muslim woman judge to be appointed to any higher judiciary.

 

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, which came into being on January 26, 1950, also very few women judges since its inception, and in over 71 years, appointed only eight lady judges, starting from M Fathima Beevi in 1989.

A TIMELINE OF FATHIMA BEEVI

M.Fathima Beevi was born on April 30, 1927 in Kerala and her father encouraged her to study law. In 1950, she topped the Bar Council exam, becoming the first woman to receive a Bar Council gold medal.

She started her career as an advocate in Kerala and worked her way up to become a district and sessions judge in 1974. In 1980, she joined the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and was appointed as a High Court judge in 1983.

In 1989, she scripted history by becoming the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, a position she held till her retirement on April 29, 1992. Upon her retirement, she first served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission, before being appointed as Governor of Tamil Nadu.

She resigned from the post of Governor of Tamil Nadu after rejecting the mercy petitions filed by four condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Courtesy: India Today