Key Points
Beevi's father encouraged her to pursue law instead of pursuing an MSc in Chemistry, leading to her receiving the Travancore Bar Council gold medal in 1949-50..
Born in a small town in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore in 1927, Justice M Fathima Beevi's journey to becoming the first woman judge of the Supreme Court and later the Governor of Tamil Nadu is an inspiring example of breaking the 'glass ceiling', a term perhaps not commonly used at that time..
However, without her father, Meera Sahib, urging her -- a science student -- to pursue a legal career, the title of the first woman judge in the apex court might have gone to Justice Sujata Manohar years later..
Justice Beevi resigned as Governor of Tamil Nadu in July 2002, hours after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government sought her recall over an alleged failure to uphold the Constitution following the arrest of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, a BJP-led NDA partner at the time..
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also expressed condolences over Justice Beevi's death, recalling her journey from overcoming the educational challenges faced by girls to becoming the first woman judge of the Supreme Court..
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