Almost three months after he retired, Justice Rohit Arya, a former member of the Madhya Pradesh high court, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday. At a Bhopal event, Dr. Raghavendra Sharma, the head of the BJP’s state unit, gave the former high court judge his membership.
Judge Arya was appointed to the Madhya Pradesh High Court on September 12, 2013, and on March 26, 2015, she was made a permanent judge. During her tenure, she ruled over a number of high-profile cases. Comedians Munawar Faruqui and Nalin Yadav were accused of offending religious emotions and breaking the Covid-19 protocol during an Indore gig on New Year’s Eve in 2021. He granted them bail in that case.
In his order, Justice Arya emphasised the Constitutional duty to promote harmony and the spirit of brotherhood, stating, “The State must endeavour to ensure that this ecosystem and sustenance of coexistence in our welfare society is not polluted by negative forces.”
Later, the Supreme Court overturned the high court’s decision and gave Faruqui bail.
In a notorious case from 2020, Justice Arya released a man convicted of insulting a woman’s modesty on the condition that he appear before the complainant on Raksha Bandhan so she may tie a “rakhi”—a sign of a brother-sister relationship—on his wrist. In addition, the accused had to swear to keep the complainant safe.
The Supreme Court reversed this ruling after receiving a great deal of criticism and set guidelines for lower courts on how to handle bail petitions in crimes against women cases.
Justice Arya was born on April 28, 1962, and has a long history in both the legal profession and the judiciary. August 1984 saw his enrolment as an advocate, and on August 26, 2003, the Madhya Pradesh high court named him a senior advocate. Over his career, he represented the central government, State Bank of India, Telecom Department, Employees State Insurance Corporation, BSNL, arbitration, administrative, labour, and tax laws, among other entities. He practiced in a variety of fields, including civil laws, corporate fiduciary, arbitration, administrative, labour, and tax laws.
