Justice S Abdul Nazeer: ("An Outstanding Judge with impeccable integrity").
(Justice S Abdul Nazeer who retired as the Judge of the Hon supreme court of India on 4th January, 2023
is an eminent personality of India, after an illustrative career in legal profession for four decades, first as a lawyer and then as a distinguished Judge in
the High court of Karnataka and supreme court of India, he will always be remembered as a legend who added strength to the judiciary, he was part of some
of the most iconic constitution benches in the country he has left behind a legacy which is unmatched in the present times).
Career spanning over four decades as a lawyer,Judge many years in the country's:
Supreme court Judge Justice S Abdul Nazeer who demitted the officeon the 4th January,2023,
bringing the curtain down on his Four decades illustrious career as Advocate, Judge at High Court of karnataka and at supreme court which saw
him pass some the crucial judgments in sensitive matters, before being elevated to Supreme court, he was a permanent Judge at high court of Karnataka (2003-2017),
where he had set a very high standard of judicial conduct, his conduct has always been of unsparingly honest and forthright.
First he practiced 20 years as an Advocate in the Karnataka High Court, on May, 12th 2003, he was elevated as the additionalJudge of the
high office of karnataka and and on 24th September 2004, he was made permanent Judge, almost after 14 years serving as a Judge of Karnataka
High Court, in February 2017, he was elevated as the Judge of the Supreme court of India. Thus he was the third judge ever to be elevated directly
to the Apex court of India, without becoming the chief justice of any high court in the country.
Justice S Abdul Nazeer comes from a very humble background, while growing up, he had to struggle hard and worked on farms,
beaches, where he even scavenged for the fish on the Perambur beach, and rose the ladder of his legal profession due to his honesty integrity and hard work,
he finally reached to the highest judicial position in the country, the Judge of the supreme court of India, which always every lawyer and judge of High
courts aspires to be.
His life story is a shining role model for everyone, particularly for those who struggle in life to reach top positions with their hard work, sincerity.
which is evocative and full of inspiring lessons, Justice Nazeer's life has truly epitomized the best in the high standard of Judiciary and achievements.
Justice S Abdul Nazeer: Early Life, Advocacy and persona:
Justice S Abdul Nazeer, hails from coastal Karnataka, who was born at Beluvai a small village near Moodbidri with the humble background,
he had a tough time growing up as his father Fakir sahib had passed away when he was in school, undeterred by these events, he moved on with the life,
he completed his B.Com degree from Mahaveera College in Moodbidri in 1979, then he obtained his law degree from SDM law college, Mangalore.
After enrolling as an advocate on February 18th,1983, he began his legal journey, he started his law practice as lawyer under a advocate
M.K.Vijaykumar in Karkala, a veteran and distinguished lawyer, coveted Rajyotsava Awardee who had mentored many lawyers,then Justice Abdul Nazeer
shifted to Bangalore and practised under eminent advocates late K S Kasim who was known as the poor people's advocate, after working some time here,
he joined the chamber of the Senior advocate Shri V Tarak Ram in Bangalore, who practised mainly in High court, He was held in high esteem by the members
of the bar and the judiciary, He was held in high esteem by the members of the bar and the judiciary, Advocates late K S Kasim was his father in law.
There are few people we can come across like Justice Abul Nazeer, ever smiling-ever helpful-ever kind and so simple who didn't even have the Passport
when he was elevated as the judge of the Supreme court of India. he was a lawyer par excellence who wa accessible to junior a great human being
with great sense of humour
As a human being Justice Abul Nazeer has always been a very accomplished person, who possess the noble virtues derived
from his family and his father in law late K S Kasim, a highly respected Advocate of karnataka known for highest professional conduct,
Advocate K S Kasim who was also an extraordinary good human being, initial years he worked in his chamber before shifting to the chamber
of the Senior advocate V.Tarak Ram who mainly practised in High court, aside being a brilliant Lawyer, Justice Abdul Nazeer was also a very
good judge who always wanted junior advocates to be given more chances to argue in courts and they be given reasonable remuneration,
in this way the nation will have a generation of good lawyers and judges.
As an advocate he was never drawn toward a commercial career, he will take cases where he will be able to devote enough time to prepare cases properly in court.
As a lawyer, he was known as the hard working and most committed lawyer,always well prepared with laws and facts where he will put up his cases very diligently and
with fair presentation in court in a very soothing voice, as a Judge he was always respectful to bar and was known as patient listener,
he is known as the intellectual of a very highest order, a great human being with great sense of humour.
Justice Nazeer had a sparkling career as a lawyer mainly in karnataka high court, his honesty and promptness helped him to grow in the judicial circle,
while as lawyer he was one of the most committed lawyer, very professional and considerate, as the judge of the high court of Karnataka, he was
known as the outstanding judge with impeccable integrity, hence Supreme court collegium found him as the suitable for the elevation to the Supreme Court of India.
Justice S Abdul Nazeer is grace personified, he represented the best of bar and Bench, who is an intellectual of a very high order,
he inherited honesty and self-discipline from his family, he was further groomed for the higher judicial responsibilities
by his father in law Advocate K S Kasim who was also a highly respected and considerate Advocate in Bangalore and further by
Senior Advocate V Tarakram, Justice S Abdul Nazeer as judge was a ideal judge, quick in grap, very patient in hearing,
who will give equal hearing necessary for the case to veteran advocate or new dovates an ran court with full efficiency
Career spanning over many years in the country:
During his distinguished career spanning over four decades as a lawyer and judge, he always practiced what he preached and led a simple life,
his sterling character and commitment to values he inherited from his seniors and mentors which groomed him as a committed legal persona of highest order,
during his tenure as a judge of High Court and supreme court, he maintained the Highest standard of integrity and judicial Independence, and always
epitomized the best in the high standards of judiciary and achievements, he was the ideal judge --quick to grasp,patience in hearing who will give equal
time to veteran advocates as well to new advocate appearing before him and give fair in judgement.
A highly respected member of the law fraternity, In 2017, the Supreme Court of India collegium, headed by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Jagdish Sigh Khehar,
recommended his name for the elevation as a judge in Supreme court of India, following this, Then President of India Pranab Mukherjee
appointed him as Judge of the apex court of India supreme court of India, it is a high point that Justice S Abdul Nazeer,
he is perhaps the only one of the three judges who has ever been directly elevated to the Supreme Court without becoming the chief justice of a high court.
He has always been extremely gracious while dealing with the bar who will always maintain a pleasant atmosphere in the courtroom.
Justice S Abdul Nazeer: (Justice S Abdul Nazeer 6 years tenure as the Judge of the Supreme court of India)
Justice Nazeer over the course of his six long years distinguished career as the Judge of the Supreme court of India (2017-2023),
which gave him an opportunity, one after another, to be in the thick of almost every momentous decision of the Apex-court, he had passed crucial
judgments in sensitive matters, he sat on 458 benches and authored 93 judgements, where his Judgments ranges across a variety of subjects,
from criminal law cases—Propoerty matters, rest were a wide plethora of subjects.
Exemplary record as a judge and legal scholar.
He was part of 10 path breaking constitution benches, which decided several historically important cases of the contemporary history of the post-Independent India like
long pending politically sensitive Ayodhya land dispute case, part of a multi-faith bench that heard the triple talaq case, Instant to demonetization, right to Privacy etc.
The five-judge constitution bench which heard the Ayodhya land dispute case was headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, other judges were Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud,
Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer, where Justice Nazeer was the only muslim judge of the bench who patiently heard the counsels from both sides in the Ayodhya title dispute.
The Constitution Bench of the supreme court of india, which decided the controversial Ayodhya land dispute, where Justice S Abdul Nazeer, was the lone Muslim Supreme Court judge,
where bench itself agreed to pronounce a unanimous verdict, not only he the defied expectations, but he also demonstrated his commitment to secularism and his willingness to serve the
judicial institution as a ‘true Indian
Justice S. Abdul Nazeer on the last day of his demitting the the office of the Hon Supreme court Judge, he led the 5 members Constitution Bench of supreme court,
which delivered two important judgements first it upheld the validity of Government's 2016 Demonetization Scheme decision, second judgment it refused to put additional restrictions on freedom
of speech on public officials.
Justice S Abul Nazeer's career at the Supreme court as a judge spanned almost for six years, which is longer than the average tenure of other fellow sitting judges of 5.2 years
and he was part of the 10 multiple significantly important Constitution Bench of the supreme court benches cases during his distinguished career.
Justice S Abdul Nazeer: (A multi-talented personality).
Justice S Abdul Nazeer is a man with simple in tests and habits, he is a cheerful personality with many talents, he began his legal journey after enrolling as an advocate with the
Karnataka Pradesh Bar Council on February 18th, 1983, beside being an eminent lawyer of karnataka High court in Bangalore,
distinguished Judge of the of the High Court of Karnataka and supreme court of India, he also had other passions fondness for theatre,where he was greatly fond of the theatre during his college days,
he will compose plays and songs, write dialogues and scene for many plays, even he worked as the lead film singer, he had a great interest in singing also he used to sing Tulu songs.
Justice Nazeer also learnt Sanskrit. It credits this endeavour to his “diversity, inclusion and openness of mind”.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr Justice D Y Chandurchud during his farewell function said, he is truly a Multi-faceted personality, who comes from a very humble background
who even scavenged for the fish on the Perambur beach, and rose to the highest position of his legal profession which everyone aspires for, with honesty, hard work and commitment,
the smile we see on his face reveals that of a multifaceted personality who is very serious about the law but his persona is beyond it of a scholarly person who is fond of Music and Literature,
it represents complete human being in him.
Justice Abdul Nazeer: (A Scholarly person):
Justice Abdul Nazeer is a highly learned and scholarly person whose views of the Indian legal system are with the times.
While addressing the 16th national council of RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Adhivakta Parishad at Hyderabad, he said about the greater need to get rid the Indian judiciary of
‘the colonial legal system’ which is detrimental to national interest. he called for embracing the “great legal traditions as per Manu, Kautilya, Katyayana, Brihaspati, Narada, Parashara,
Yajnavalkya and other legal giants of ancient India,
He also said that the great lawyers are not born but are made by proper education, training and great legal tradition as set up and by proper mentoring by their seniors.
Justice Abdul Nazeer has a deep love for humanity and nation, whenever he wil speak,he will talk with his philosophical mind, his observations and remarks are good guides to understand the state
of judiciary and nation, like he said there is less representation representation of women in judiciary and junior lawyers be given better remuneration to sustain in life.
Justice S Abdul Nazeer bids Adieu to Judiciary: (After an impressive innings of four decades as Judge and lawyer).
Justice Nazeer doffed his robes as Judge of Supreme court of India on January 4th, 2023 after serving a 6-year term at the Supreme Court of India, during his tenure,
Justice Nazeer sat on 458 benches and authored 93 judgments.
Justice Abdul Nazeer ended his farewell speech with a Sanskrit shloka: (Where he displayed his scholarly and secular thoughts).
During the farewell speech organised by SCBA, CJI Justice Chandrachud said that Justice S Abdul Nazeer has learnt Sanskrit, the classical language which shows his diversity, Secularism and openness of mind.
Even during his farewell speech the Justice Abdul Nazeer ended his speech organized by SCBA with a Sanskrit shloka which displayed his scholarly thoughts.
“I end this with a shloka that resonates most with me dharme sarvam pratishthitam tasmaad dharmam paramam vadanti. It means everything in this world is founded on 'dharma', hence,
it is the ultimate supreme and dharma, who destroys it and protects those who protect it. Thank you, Jai Hind!” Live Law quoted the judge as saying,
During his farewell speech he outlined of the fact that there is a overall low representation of women in Indian judicial system both as the lawyers and Judges,
as that exist in our society and steps should be taken to increase their number, he quoted Kofi Annan, the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations (UNO) that there is no
more effective tool of development than empowerment of women.
He also said that junior lawyers are paid much less and they should be given a decent remuneration to navigate their way in their legal profession.
He further said a decent pay to junior lawyers would further inspire more talented and dynamic young members to enter this noble profession,
these young lawyer's valuable inputs are needed to provide equitable accessible justice and reach to the last voice crying for justice in the country which otherwise can not be heard
He also said that young lawyers need a mentor to channelize their the best of their energies in their profession which will act like a helping hand,
all of us had a mentor in our profession which will benefit the society,he also said senior lawyers should give ample opportunities to junior lawyers
to appear in the court-room to brief and argue as their energy and competence was unparalleled.
Further he advised younger lawyers should pursue their profession with utmost sincerity to take the button of justice forward.
Justice S Abdul Nazeer"s farewell Function: (Eminent Legal luminaris spoke)
On 4th January, 2023, during the farewell function organised by Supreme court Bar Association (SCBA) on the eve of his retirement, Justice S Abdul Nazeer,
was greatly lauded by not only by Hon Chief Justice of India Dr Justice D Y Chandachud, President Supreme Court Bar Association and others for his concurrence with the
majority view in the landmark Ayodhya land dispute case.
Further CJI said, “Justice Nazeer was not the one who would be neutral between right and wrong but he would stand for what is right.
CJI Dr Justice D Y Chandachud said, we shared the Ayodhya Bench during the Ayodhya land dispute case, what great sense of statesmanship he displayed and carried the matter for all of us.
We stood together, we thought together, we decided together, Justice Nazeer always stood for his dedication.
SCBA president and the Senior Advocate Vikas Singh said, Justice Nazeer “agreed with the majority view and “this showed Justice Nazeer’s true nature characterised by an inclination to put the nation first,
himself as a judge, second, and himself, as an individual, last in the order of priority.” he is a “true embodiment of secularism and statesmanship”
He further said Justice Nazeer was also the member of the bench and the sole and the only judge from a minority community part of a five-member Supreme Court Bench in the Ayodhya case.
Solicitor general of India, Tushar Mehta said Justice Nazeer will always have a smile on his face and his imprint will always remain for a long time, he never allowed stress to get to him,
he will always ensure Justice is done.
Advocate General of India, R.Venkatramani also thanked Justice Nazeer for being part of several important Supreme court benches during his six years tenure as the Judge of the supreme court of India,
which delivered some of the most landmark judgements during the contemporary period of independent India, thus bringing the strength to the great Institution of India. The Supreme Court of India.
After an illustrative career as a lawyer, Judge of High court and Supreme court, Justice Abdul Nazeer leaves behind a shining legacy which is unmatched in the present times.
Justice Abdul Nazeer was part of those historical benches of the Supreme court that decided cases that became landmark judgments and set legal precedents,
some notable ones being the Nanavati, Hindutva, Mandal cases and the Black Money case and Ayodhya land dispute case and leaves behind a shining legacy of
cases that became landmark judgments and set legal precedents
Justice Nazeer's life has epitomized the best in the high standard of Judiciary and achievements, thus his retirement is definitely a loss for the judiciary and his passion for the cause of
justice will be missed thoroughly by all.
He comes from a humble background, his life story is a shining role model for everyone particularly for people from weaker class of society, his life story is evocative and full of inspiring lessons.
Justice S Abdul Nazeer is one of those great persons of the country who demitted his office of the Judge of the supreme court of India with the straight spine, decency and integrity after a gracious
40 years in the legal arena of the country as an eminent Lawyer, distinguished judge, such impartial and humble judges are rare.
The shining Legacy left behind by Juti Naazeer definitely has definitely set an exemplary benchmark which may prove hard to achieve in future.
The Nation bows in respect for the humble boy Abdul Nazeer from a small helmet in Beluvai, a small village near Moodbidri, who rose to the highest judicial post of the Supreme-court judge of India
and who not has only created the true legacy for himself which will remain a source of constant motivation and drive for all and will be part of many exampilary historical stories.
Thanks Justice Nazeer saheb, for serving the Nation, may God give you good health so that you continue to guide us.In this era nation needs justice Nazeer's wise counselling all the more, he is only
65 years old, definitely the nation will bestow him with some important position.
- Ramesh G Jethwani Bangalore.
Ramesh G jethwani is a Veteran writer, Voracious reader, Historian and commentator who has been writing in 21 newspapers in India and GCC countries for several decades on various subjects of importance.
His website.www: rameshjethwani.com.
