Arun Kumar Mishra

Arun Kumar Mishra (born 3 September 1955) is former chairperson of National Human Rights Commission of India. He is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. He is the former chief justice of the Calcutta High Court and Rajasthan High Court. He has also served as acting chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court. He is a former judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Early life and education
Mishra was born on 3 September 1955. His father, the late Hargovind Mishra was also a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He completed his graduation in science and obtained a master's degree. He then obtained a degree in law. He practised from 1978 to October 1999 in constitutional, civil, industrial, criminal and service matters in the bench of High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Gwalior. He worked as a part-time lecturer in law from 1986 to 1993 and was a member of the faculty of law of Jiwaji University, Gwalior from 1991 to 1996.

Elevation to High Court
Mishra was appointed additional judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 25 October 1999 and permanent judge on 24 October 2001. He was transferred to Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur and took oath on 12 September 2010. He became acting chief justice of Rajasthan High Court on 1 November 2010. He took oath of the office of the Chief Justice of Rajasthan on 26 November 2010.

Achievements
Mishra has taken several steps to dovetail technology in functions of Rajasthan High Court. His initiatives include publication of first ever Newsletter of Rajasthan High Court and inauguration of a Museum.

Calcutta High Court
He was appointed the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court on 14 December 2012 and served until 2014 and was later elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Chairperson of NHRC
On 2 June 2021, he was appointed the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India and served there till 1 June 2024. His appointment was criticized by opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge who requested to appoint a member of the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe communities arguing that most complaints lodged with NHRC deal with atrocities committed against these communities.

Controversies
In February 2020, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) condemned Justice Mishra's statements to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On February 22, 2020, at the inaugural ceremony of the International Judicial Conference, Mishra said, "India is a responsible and most friendly member of the international community under the stewardship of the internationally acclaimed visionary Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi." He described Modi as "a versatile genius who thinks globally and acts locally".

In response on February 26, 2020, SCBA condemned Mishra's sycophantic remarks for Modi and in a resolution it said such statements reflect poorly on the independence of judiciary which is a basic feature of the Constitution of India. The resolution asserted that if judges show their proximity to politicians, it will influence their judgments in the courts.

On August 31, 2020, a former minister in the Government of India Yashwant Sinha ridiculed Mishra’s slavish behaviour toward Modi. He suggested in a contemptuous tenor that after Mishra’s retirement, Modi should reward him with a job that is more than a Rajya Sabha seat. In October 2021, Sinha criticized Mishra again for his sycophancy for Modi's colleague Amit Shah who is the Home Minister of India.

In an article titled "The Shadow of Haren Pandya's Case Lies Long Over Justice Arun Mishra" published on August 30, 2020, The Wire news site critically analyzed Mishra's judgments.

In an article on April 23, 2020, The Hindu newspaper suggested enacting a law to stop appointments of retired judges by the government in order to restore confidence in the judiciary.