India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—Justice (retd) S Abdul Nazeer, who was part of the Supreme Court bench that delivered the Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir and demonization verdict, has been appointed Governor of Andhra Pradesh.
Justice Nazeer, who retired last month, replaced Biswa Bhushan Harichandan, who has been shifted to Chhattisgarh.
Justice Nazeer was a part of the five-member constitutional bench that delivered the Ayodhya verdict in 2019. Other members of the bench were the then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who was later appointed Rajya Sabha Member, Justice SA Bobde, Justice DY Chandrachud (sitting CJI), and Justice Ashok Bhushan.
The bench had delivered a unanimous verdict in the Ayodhya temple-mosque title suit, paving the way for constructing a Ram Temple at the disputed site. The bench had directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque.
Justice Nazeer-led five-judge Constitution bench also upheld the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetize Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes. The court said the decision-making process was neither flawed nor hasty.
Justice Nazeer was also on the bench that declared triple talaq illegal. The judgment was passed 3:2. Justice Nazeer, however, dissented from the verdict. Justice Nzaeer and one other judge upheld the validity of the practice of Triple Talaq (Talaq-e-Biddat) based on the fact that it is permissible under Muslim Sharia Law,
Born in a Muslim family in Karnataka, Justice Nazeer completed his B.Com degree at Mahaveera College, Moodbidri. He later obtained a law degree from SDM Law College, Kodialbail, Mangaluru.
According to Wikipedia, he enrolled as an Advocate in 1983 and practiced at the Karnataka High Court in Bengaluru. In May 2003, he was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court.
He was later appointed a Permanent Judge of the same High Court. In February 2017, while serving as a judge of the Karnataka High Court, Nazeer was elevated to the Supreme Court of India. He became only the third judge to be elevated without becoming the chief justice of any high court.
