New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS): Justice Abdul Nazeer has been appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, a month after retiring from the Supreme Court. He was the lone minority judge in the bench which gave the judgement in Ayodhya case and paved the way for the construction of Ram temple.

The Ram Jannabhoomi temple- Babri Masjid was a long-drawn dispute between the two communities which the Supreme Court finally decided on November 9, 2019.

Justice S. Abdul Nazeer was one of the five-member Supreme Court Bench that gave the final verdict. He retired in January.

Justice Nazeer led the Constitution Bench that had upheld the 2016 demonetisation process. He had also declared that there was no need to impose additional restrictions on the free speech right of Ministers, MPs, MLAs and leaders.

Born on January 5, 1958, at Beluvai in Karnataka Dakshina Kannada district, Justice Nazeer enrolled as an advocate on February 18, 1983, after completing his LLB degree from the SDM Law College, Mangaluru.

He practiced before the Karnataka High Court and was appointed as its Additional Judge on May 12, 2003. He became a permanent judge on September 24, 2004 and was elevated to the Supreme Court on February 17, 2017.

Justice Nazeer was a part of several landmark constitution bench decisions, which included triple talaq, right to privacy, Ayodhya case, and recently on the Centre's 2016 decision on demonetisation, and free speech of lawmakers.

Earlier, Justice Nazeer said that the situation in the Indian judiciary today is not as grim as it used to be, though a wrong impression is conveyed due to misinformation.