Stories
Who is Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra who sentenced Muskan and Sahil to death
- •Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra pronounced the death penalty for Muskan and Sahil in the sensational Meerut blue drum murder case.
- •In 2025, Merchant Navy employee Saurabh Rajput was murdered, his body chopped into five pieces, and sealed in a drum with cement.
- •A native of Mau district in Uttar Pradesh, Mishra completed his LLB in 1994 and officially joined the UP Judicial Service in 2003.
- •He has served in various judicial positions across districts like Ghazipur, Sultanpur, Aligarh, Gorakhpur, and as Chairman of the State Transport Appellate Tribunal.
- •This marks the first time in nearly 23 years that a death sentence has been pronounced in Meerut.
Key Questions Answered
Arvind Kumar Mishra was born in Mau district on July 2, 1971, and earned his law degrees before joining the Uttar Pradesh Judicial Service in May 2003. He has served in various judicial capacities across multiple districts, including as Chief Judicial Magistrate, Family Court Principal Judge, and State Transport Appellate Tribunal Chairman, before taking charge as Meerut's District and Sessions Judge.
The victim was Saurabh Rajput, a former Merchant Navy officer whose remains were found in a sealed blue drum filled with cement in March 2025. Following a 13-month trial involving 126 hearings and 22 witness testimonies, District and Sessions Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra sentenced his wife Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla to death.
While delivering the death sentence in the high-profile murder case, Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra invoked a verse from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, stating "Dand bhi dharm hai" to emphasize that punishing a criminal is a righteous act.
