VIJAYAWADA: Retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Syed Abdul Nazeer has been appointed as new Governor of Andhra Pradesh. President Droupadi Murmu appointed Biswa Bhusan Harichandan as Governor of Chhattisgarh.
Mr Harichandan assumed charge as second governor of Andhra Pradesh on July 24 2019. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been maintaining cordial relations with Harichandan which helped smooth functioning of the government in the State.
Justice Abdul Nazeer hails from coastal Karnataka. He is the son of Fakir Saheb. He grew up in Beluvai/Moodbidri and completed his B.Com degree at Mahaveera College, Moodbidri. He obtained law degree from SDM Law College, Kodialbail, Mangaluru.
He was enrolled as an advocate in 1983 and practised at the Karnataka High Court. In May 2003, he was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court. He was later appointed as permanent judge of the same High Court. In February 2017, Nazeer was elevated to the Supreme Court. He is the third judge ever to be elevated without serving as the chief justice of any high court.
Justice Abdul Nazeer was the lone Muslim judge in a multi-faith bench which heard the controversial Triple Talaq case in 2017. Though Nazeer and another judge upheld the validity of the practise of Triple Talaq based on that fact that it is permissible under Muslim Sharia Law, it was barred by the bench by 3:2 majority.
Justice Nazeer was also member of the 5 judge- bench of historic 2019 Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya dispute, which upheld the report of ASI, which stated about the existence of a Hindu structure in the disputed region. He gave the verdict in favour of Ram Mandir and thus finally ending the long dispute with 5-0 verdict.
Months before his retirement, Justice Nazeer led a Constitution bench which heard cases pertaining to the 2016 demonetisation. He retired on January 4, 2023.
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