Born : 30 April 1927
Pathanamthitta, Travancore, India
(present day Kerala, India)
Died : 23 November 2023 (aged 96)
Kollam, Kerala, India
Academic: Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram
University College Thiruvananthapuram
M. Fathima Beevi (30 April 1927 – 23 November 2023) was an Indian judge who was a justice of the Supreme Court of India. Appointed to the apex Court in 1989, she became the first female judge to be a part of the Supreme Court of India, and the first Muslim woman to be appointed to any of the higher judiciaries in the country.
On her retirement from the court, she served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission and later as the Governor of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu from 1997 to 2001. In 2023, she was honoured with Kerala Prabha Award, the second-highest honour given by the Government of Kerala. In the 2024 honours list, she was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Early life and education
M. Fathima Beevi was born on 30 April 1927 at Pathanamthitta in the Kingdom of Travancore, now in the Indian state of Kerala, as the daughter of Annaveettil Meer Sahib and Khadeeja Beevi into the Rowther Family.
Beevi attended Town school and Catholicate High School, Pathanamthitta and got her BSc in chemistry from women’s college, Thiruvananthapuram. She obtained her L.B. from Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram.
Career
Beevi was enrolled as Advocate on 14 November 1950. She topped the Bar Council exam in 1950. She began her career in the lower judiciary in Kerala. She was appointed the Munsiff in the Kerala Sub-ordinate Judicial Services in May 1958. She was promoted as the Sub-ordinate Judge in 1968 and as the Chief Judicial Magistrate in 1972, as District & Sessions Judge in 1974.
In January 1980, Beevi was appointed the Judicial Member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. She was then elevated to the High Court as a Judge on 4 August 1983.
Beevi became permanent Judge of the High Court on 14 May 1984. She retired as the Judge of the High Court on 29 April 1989 but was further elevated to the Supreme Court as a Judge on 6 October 1989 where she retired on 29 April 1992
