Almost three months after retiring, former Madhya Pradesh High Court judge Justice Rohit Arya joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday. The membership was conferred upon him by BJP Madhya Pradesh Chief Dr. Raghavendra Sharma during a program at the BJP State Office in Bhopal.

Born in 1962, Justice Arya enrolled as an advocate in 1984 and was designated as a senior advocate by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2003. His practice areas included civil, commercial, arbitration, administrative, service, labor, and tax law. He represented entities such as the Central Government, State Bank of India, Telecom Department, BSNL, Employees State Insurance Corporation, and the Income Tax Department. Elevated as a High Court Judge in 2013, he became a permanent Judge in 2015 and retired on April 27, 2024.

Notably, in 2021, Justice Arya denied bail to comedian Munawar Faruqui and Nalin Yadav, accused of hurting religious sentiments. He emphasized the Constitutional duty under Article 51A(e) and (f) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood irrespective of diversities. The Supreme Court later granted bail to Faruqui, setting aside Justice Arya’s order.

In 2020, Justice Arya granted bail to a man accused of outraging a woman’s modesty, with the condition that he visit the complainant on Raksha Bandhan day and allow her to tie a Rakhi on his wrist, symbolizing a brother-sister relationship. The Supreme Court criticized and set aside these bail conditions, issuing guidelines for lower courts in handling similar cases.