M Fathima Beevi, the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of a nation in Asia, passed away on Thursday, November 23, at a private hospital in Kollam. The 96-year-old was also the first Muslim woman to serve the higher judiciary in the country. She was also the first woman Governor of Tamil Nadu and the first chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission.

Justice Fathima was born in Pathanamthitta of Kerala in 1927 and underwent schooling at the Catholicate High School in Pathanamthitta. She graduated in Chemistry from University College, Trivandrum and obtained a Bachelor of Law degree from Government Law College in Thiruvananthapuram. She enrolled as an advocate in 1950, where she became the first woman to top the Bar Council exam and receive a gold medal.

After starting her career in the lower judiciary in her home state, she was appointed as the Munsiff in the Kerala Subordinate Judicial Services in 1958 and promoted to subordinate judge in 1968. She became the Chief Judicial Magistrate in 1972 and District and Sessions Judge in 1974. She was later appointed as the Judicial Member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in 1980. She was elevated to the High Court as a judge on August 4, 1983, and as a permanent Judge of the High Court on May 14, 1984.

She became a judge of the Supreme Court on October 6, 1989. She retired from the apex court on April 29, 1992, and became the chairperson of the NHRC. Later, she was appointed as the Governor of Tamil Nadu on January 25, 1997, and quit in 2001 following a decision of the Union government recommending to the President to recall her.

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