The first woman judge of the Supreme Court Justice Fathima Beevi died in Kerala on November 23.
- Fathima Beevi was born to Annaveetil Meeran Sahib and Khadeeja Beevi of Pathanamthitta in 1927.
- In 1950, Beevi became the first woman law graduate to get the gold medal from the Bar Council.
- She became the first woman member of the country’s Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, before becoming the first Muslim woman to enter the higher judiciary as a judge with the Kerala High Court in 1983.
- Justice Beevi was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court in 1989 during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister.
- She was the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 1997 to 2001, and her most controversial decision was to administer the oath of office and secrecy to former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa within hours of the AIADMK securing a majority in the Assembly election in May 2001.
- Jayalalithaa had suffered disqualification from contesting elections that year on account of her conviction in two TANSI land deal cases.
