M. Fathima Beevi

M. Fathima Beevi was a jurist who in 1989 became the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India. She was named posthumously for the Padma Bhushan in 2024 in the field of public affairs, from Kerala ^[1].

Into the law

She was born on 30 April 1927 in Pathanamthitta, Kerala, and studied chemistry at University College, Thiruvananthapuram ^[2]. Encouraged by her father to take up law, she topped her law degree at Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, and won first rank and a gold medal in the Bar Council examination ^[2].

Judge

She enrolled as a lawyer in Kollam in 1950 and practised for seven years before topping the state public service examination and joining the judiciary as a munsiff in 1958 ^[2]. She rose to district and sessions judge in 1974, became the first woman judicial member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, and was made a judge of the Kerala High Court in 1983 ^[2].

In 1989 she was appointed to the Supreme Court, the first woman to serve on it and, according to her citation, the first woman judge of the highest court of any Asian country ^[2]. She served until 1992 ^[2].

After the court

She became the first chairperson of Kerala’s Backward Classes Commission and the first woman member of the National Human Rights Commission ^[2]. From 1997 to 2001 she was Governor of Tamil Nadu ^[2].

She died on 23 November 2023 ^[2].