Former Madhya Pradesh High Court judge Justice Rohit Arya, who has joined the Bharatiya Janta Party, on Sunday said his “thinking aligns with the philosophy of the BJP.” In an interview with Live Law, the former high court judge said he was invited to a seminar by the Madhya Pradesh BJP where the party members urged him to get associated with the party.

“I was overwhelmed, and I didn’t say no,” he was quoted as saying.

Arya, however, clarified that he doesn’t intend to fight elections and just wants to be in public life.

“Politics is not my cup of tea. I have no interest in electoral politics and don’t intend to fight elections. I just want to be in public life. The BJP, as a party, will help me convert my ideas for the people into reality. I will give them many suggestions,” he said, as per Live Law.

Justice Rohit Arya was appointed as a judge of the Madhya Pradesh high court on September 12, 2013, and became a permanent judge on March 26, 2015.

He presided over several high-profile cases, including the denial of bail in 2021 to comedians Munawar Faruqui and Nalin Yadav, who were accused of hurting religious sentiments during a New Year event in Indore.

The Supreme Court later granted bail to Faruqui, overturning the high court’s decision.

Reflecting on this, Justice Arya said, “Mera manna hai ki agar aap bhawnaon ko thes pahunchayenge, to aapko sabak milna chahiye. Ab us case ka Supreme Court mein jakar kya hua, uspe mujhe kuch nahin kehna. (I believe that if you hurt sentiments, you should be taught a lesson. I don’t want to comment on what happened in the Supreme Court.)”

In 2020, Justice Arya made headlines with a controversial bail order, granting bail to an accused in a molestation case on the condition that he present himself to the complainant on Raksha Bandhan for her to tie a “rakhi” on his wrist, symbolising a brother-sister relationship. This decision faced substantial criticism and was later overturned by the Supreme Court, which issued guidelines for handling such bail petitions.

Commenting on the order, he said, “Section 354 IPC ka mamla tha, halanki (accused ne victim ka) bas hath hi pakda tha, no doubt nahin karna tha lekin dono ek hi gaon ke the, maine socha matter aapsi sulah se khatm ho jaaye. Victim-accused ke beech patch-up ho jaaye. (It was a case under Section 354 of the IPC. Although the accused only held the victim’s hand, there was no doubt that it shouldn’t have happened. However, both were from the same village, so I thought it would be better for the matter to be resolved amicably. I wanted a patch-up between the victim and the accused.)”