Justice S Abdul Nazeer appointed AP Guv: Ex-SC judge who was part of Ayodhya, triple talaq & demonetisation verdicts

Former Supreme Court judge Justice S Abdul Nazeer was appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh by the President of India on Sunday.

About Justice Nazeer's early life and career

Justice Nazeer was born on January 5 1958 and enrolled as an advocate on February 18 1983. He practiced at the Karnataka High Court and was appointed as an additional Judge of the High Court on May 12 2003.

He was then promoted to judge in the Supreme Court of India on February 17 2017. He became the third judge ever to be elevated in this way, without first becoming the chief justice of some high court. Justice Nazeer retired on January 4 2023.

Here's a list of some iconic panels he was a part of during his judicial career at the Supreme Court:

1. Triple Talaq case 2017

Justice Nazeer was the lone Muslim judge in a multi-faith bench which heard the controversial Triple Talaq case in 2017. Though Nazeer and one other judge upheld the validity of the practise of Triple Talaq (Talaq-e-Biddat) based on that fact that it is permissible under Muslim Sharia Law, it was barred by the bench by 3:2 majority and asked the Central government to bring legislation in six months to govern marriage and divorce in the Muslim community.

The court said till the government formulates a law regarding triple talaq, there would be an injunction on husbands pronouncing triple talaq on their wives.

2. Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi judgement 2019

Justice Nazeer was also the part of 5 judges' bench of the historic 2019 Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi dispute judgement. He upheld the report of ASI, which stated about the existence of a Hindu Structure in the disputed region and gave the verdict in favour of Ram Mandir, finally ending the years long dispute with 5-0 verdict.

3. 2016 Banknote Demonetisation judgement

Lastly, in the months leading up to his retirement, Justice Nazeer led a constitution bench which heard cases pertaining to the 2016 Indian banknote demonetisation carried out by the Government of India.