First female judge of Supreme Court Fathima Beevi passes away at 96

The first female judge appointed to the Supreme Court, Fathima Beevi from Kerala passed away on Thursday (Nov 23) in Kollam. She was appointed as the SC judge in 1989.

Kollam: The first female judge of the Supreme Court Fathima Beevi passed away on Thursday (Nov 23). She was 96. She was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kollam. Fathima Beevi will be laid to rest on Friday at 12 pm in Juma Masjid, Pathanamthitta.

She attended Government Law College in Ernakulam to study law after graduating from the University of Kerala with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1950, she started her legal profession as the first woman in Kerala to obtain a law degree. Prior to being named a judge of the Kerala High Court in 1983, she had served as a Chief Judicial Magistrate and a Judicial Member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

As the first female judge of the Indian Supreme Court, Beevi created history in 1989. She was also the country's first Muslim woman appointed to any higher court position. In 1992, she retired from the Supreme Court. When Beevi was named governor of Tamil Nadu in 1997, she was the first woman of Muslim descent to hold the position. She held that role until 2001. In addition, she was a member of the National Human Rights Commission and the Chairman of the Kerala Commission for Backward Classes. She was a candidate for several prominent roles, including President of India.

Fathima Beevi was the daughter of Annaveettil Meer Sahib and Khadeeja Beevi of the Rowther Family in Pathanamthitta. She was born in 1927.

Beevi won various accolades for her work, including the Mahila Shiromani Award and an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree. In addition, she received the Bharat Jyoti Award. In 2023, a documentary named Neethipathayile Dheera Vanitha—"A bold woman on the path of justice"—was released, providing insight into the life of this trailblazer.