Who is Arun Kumar Mishra, the new NHRC chief?

An outspoken supporter of Modi, Mishra has been part of controversial rulings that have gone against marginalized communities

Former Supreme Court judge Arun Kumar Mishra has been appointed the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), nine months after his retirement. The move has stoked discontent among some critics who have cried foul, claiming the appointment was an act of political favouritism.

A high-powered committee that included both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah appointed Mishra as the chief of the human rights body. However, Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, who was also part of the committee, took to Twitter to condemn the decision and said the appointment reeked of “partisanship & quid pro quo.”

Kharge also submitted a formal letter to the prime minister, delineating his concerns with the selection process in which he raised the specific issue about the lack of any candidates from the Dalit, Adivasi or minority communities for the body that deals primarily with these groups

Who is Arun Kumar Mishra?

Mishra is the son of Hargovind Mishra, who was also a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Mishra was a practising lawyer from 1978 to 1999, before teaching at Jiwaji University.

He was elected Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council of India in 1997-1998 and Chairman in 1998-1999. Mishra then went on to become a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and was later transferred to Rajasthan High Court, where he eventually became Chief Justice of Rajasthan in 2010.

Mishra was later appointed Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court in 2012 until he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Change in selection rules

This is the first time in the body’s 27-year history that the government would have formally appointed a chairman who had not served as chief justice of India, owing directly to a 2019 amendment by the Parliament that allowed a judge of the Supreme Court to be considered for the post.

Mishra’s name was picked from a shortlist that included three former chief justices of India, The Hindu has reported, citing sources.

Praise for Modi

Months before his retirement, Mishra in February 2020 had heaped praise on Modi at an international judiciary conference, calling him a “versatile genius”.

The move drew flak from the Supreme Court Bar Association, which said in a statement that the comments reflected “poorly on the independence of the judiciary”.

Controversial rulings

During his tenure as a Supreme Court judge, Mishra was on benches that decided on several high-profile and controversial cases, including the Sahara-Birla case and the Haren Pandya murder public interest litigation.

Mishra headed a five-judge Supreme Court Constitution bench in 2019 that decided to confirm a ruling he had previously been party to on issues relating to the interpretation of a key section of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013. Two verdicts that Mishra partook incited protests for their disregard for marginalised sections and were later stayed.

Mishra also led a bench in the same year that ordered the eviction of forest dwellers and tribals whose claims over land were dismissed under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights Act), 2006. In his last judgment as a Supreme Court judge, Mishra approved the razing of slums along 140 km of Delhi’s railway network.