Retired SC judge Arun Kumar Mishra appointed as NHRC chairperson; opposition sees red

On Tuesday, President Ram Nath Kovind appointed retired SC judge Arun Kumar Mishra as the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission based on the recommendation of a selection panel. The high-powered committee comprised of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. While reportedly the names of three ex-Chief Justices of India were among the shortlisted candidates, Mishra was eventually chosen.

However, it is pertinent to note that Kharge dissociated himself from the process of selection of the new chairperson and members of the NHRC. During the meeting of the selection panel at the PM's residence on Monday evening, the veteran Congress leader pitched that at least one person belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities should be recommended either as a member or the chairperson of the body.

In a letter addressed to PM Modi, Kharge stated, "Since the Committee did not accept any of my proposals, I express my disagreement with the recommendations made by the Committee in regard to appointments to the posts of Chairperson and Members of NHRC".

Interestingly, Mishra who had retired on September 3, 2020, will become the first non-CJI to take charge as the NHRC chief. This has become possible owing to an amendment to the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 passed by the Parliament in 2019 whereby both a former CJI or an apex court judge was made eligible for this post. He will formally take over from acting chairperson Justice (retd.) Prafulla Chandra Pant on Wednesday. 

Decades-long career

Born on September 3, 1955, to Madhya Pradesh High Court judge HG Mishra, he practiced in constitutional, civil, service, and criminal matters. Elected to the MP Bar Council in 1989 and 1995 with record votes, Justice Arun Mishra also served as the youngest chairman of the Bar Council from 1998 to 1999. During his tenure, decisions such as shutting down evening law colleges and over 200 sub-standard law colleges, commencing a 5-year Law degree course, and enhancing the amount of medical aid to lawyers were taken. 

He also led the Indian Bar delegation to the Commonwealth Law Conference held in Malaysia in September 1999 and chaired one session there. 11 years after being appointed as a judge of the MP High Court, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court on November 26, 2010. He was elevated as a judge of the apex court on July 7, 2014, when he was functioning as the Calcutta HC Chief Justice.

During his tenure as a SC judge, he authored 132 judgments and was part of 540 benches that delivered judgments. This includes sensitive matters such as ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's plea seeking a fair probe into 2 FIRs lodged against him by the Gujarat Police, the Sahara-Birla diaries case, the medical college bribery case, the suo moto case pertaining to sexual harassment charges against the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi and so forth. When a bench headed by him sentenced senior advocate Prashant Bhushan over two tweets, it slammed the press conference held by 4 sitting SC judges in January 2018. 

Mishra faced a lot of criticism for his praise of the PM while delivering the vote of thanks at the inaugural session of an international judicial conference in February 2020.

He remarked, “India is a responsible and most friendly member of the international community under the stewardship of internationally acclaimed visionary Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. We thank the versatile genius who thinks globally and acts locally Shri Narendra Modi for his inspiring speech which will act as a catalyst in initiating the deliberations and setting the agenda for the conference”. 

Meanwhile, the opposition took a dig at Mishra's NHRC appointment: