Justice Arun Mishra likely to be NHRC Chairperson

Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Arun Mishra is likely to head the National Human Rights Commission, The Hindu reported.

Justice Arun Mishra had retired as Supreme Court judge on September 3, 2020.

The name of Justice Mishra was recommended by a panel consisting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge.

Kharge dissented as per the report of The Hindu.

Justice Arun Mishra enrolled as a lawyer in 1978. He was elected youngest chairperson of Bar Council of India in 1998-99. He was appointed judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court in October 1999.

He later served as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court and Calcutta High Court before being elevated to the Supreme Court on July 7, 2014.

His tenure at the Supreme Court was marked by various controversies, prominent being the Judge Loya case and the Prashant Bhushan contempt of court case.

He was initially slated to hear the case seeking probe into death of judge BH Loya the assignment of the case to Justice Mishra led to a press conference by four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. He eventually recused from the matter.