Justice Arun Mishra who is set to demit the office of judge of the Supreme Court on Sept 2 turned down an invitation from the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to attend a proposed farewell function for him..Taking into consideration the severe situation and sufferings the world over on account of the Covid19 pandemic, my conscience does not permit me to participate in any farewell function", Justice Mishra said in a letter addressed to the President of the SCBA..As and when the situation normalises, he said he would certainly visit the Bar..Citing the same reason, Justice Mishra also turned down an invitation from the Confederation of India Bar..Justice Mishra is the second senior-most judge in the Supreme Court. He was appointed as judge to the top court on July 7, 2014..He is scheduled tomorrow to hand down the sentence in Prashant Bhushan contempt case for his two tweets regarding the institution of the Supreme Court and the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI)..A three-judge bench led by Justice Mishra held that the tweets were an attempt to shake the very foundation of constitutional democracy and hence must be dealt with an 'iron hand'..The bench added that if the attack is not dealt with, with a requisite degree of firmness, then it may affect the national honour and prestige in the comity of nations..Photo Courtesy: The Telegraph
