Arun Mishra Appointed NHRC Head, Oppn Leader Registers Dissent

Justice Mishra had called Modi an “internationally acclaimed visionary who could think globally and act locally.”

After a 5-member Appointments Committee meeting, comprising of one Opposition member and four NDA representatives, on Monday proposed Arun Kumar Mishra’s name, the contentious former Supreme Court judge took over as the new chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday, 2 June.

The panel included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and the Opposition leader in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge.

Last year, Justice Mishra was the subject of a controversy, when, as a sitting judge of the SC, he regarded PM Modi as an “internationally acclaimed visionary who could think globally and act locally” at an international conference, The Wire reported.

Two other names, including former Intelligence Bureau director Rajeev Jain and former chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir high court Mahesh Mittal Kumar, were also cleared by the committee.

Kharge Objects

The Opposition leader went on to voice his disapproval regarding the selection process, saying that “I had reiterated in today's meeting my concern over the rise in the cases of atrocities on Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities and proposed that at least one person belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities be recommended for appointment either to the post of Chairperson under Section 3(2)(a) or a member to the National Human Rights Commission from amongst the existing list of candidates,” PTI quoted.

His views were recorded after the committee went ahead without the inclusion of any members of these minority groups in their recommendations.

Kharge argued that since the majority of the complaints that the commission deals with are regarding historically oppressed and socially disadvantaged groups, there should be at least one representative from these communities in the NHRC.

The senior Congress leader went on to dissociate himself from the committee and penned a letter to PM Modi, expressing his disapproval of the decisions made in the meeting.