SC judge Justice Arun Mishra refuses to recuse from hearing land acquisition case

Supreme Court judge, Justice Arun Mishra, on Wednesday refused to recuse himself from heading a Constitution Bench re-examining his own judgment relating to provisions of compensation in the 2013 Land Acquisition Act.

Justice Mishra was heading the five-judge constitution bench and was hearing the case related to the interpretation of Section 24 of the Right to Fair Compensation, Transparency in Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013.

The bench also comprising Justice Indira Banerjee, Justice Vineet Saran, Justice MR Shah and Justice Ravindra Bhat began hearing five matters related to the land acquisition case from October 15.

As the constitution bench began hearing the matters, a farmers' association had sought the recusal of Justice Mishra, alleging conflict of interest.

The association sought Justice Mishra's recusal on the ground of judicial propriety saying that the bench is examining the correctness of a judgment, which was also authored by him.