Justice S Abdul Nazeer appointed as Governor of Andhra Pradesh

Justice S Abdul Nazeer appointed as Governor of Andhra Pradesh

The former Supreme Court judge retired on 4 January

The President of India has appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice S Abdul Nazeer as the governor of Andhra Pradesh.

Justice Nazeer was part of the historic Ayodhya-Ram Janmabhoomi judgment.

Born on 5 January 1958, he was enrolled as an advocate in 1983, practicing before the Karnataka High Court. In 2003, he was appointed as an additional judge of the high court and in 2017, elevated to the Supreme Court.

He was part of the prominent judgment in the KS Puttaswamy case (which held the right to privacy a fundamental right), the triple talaq case (dissented to hold the practice as valid), Ayodhya-Babri Masjid dispute (part of the unanimous verdict allowing construction of Ram Mandir at the disputed place), the demonetization case (led the Constitution bench), which upheld the note-ban decision as valid).

Justice Nazeer also led the Constitution bench, which held that additional restrictions not found in Article 19(2) cannot be imposed on the right to free speech of ministers and legislators.

The last Supreme Court judge appointed as a governor was former Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam. He became governor of Kerala in 2014. Justice Fatima Beevi was the governor of Tamil Nadu during 1997-2001.