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National Human Rights Commission of India

The National Human Rights Commission of India (abbreviated as NHRC) is a statutory body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993.[1] It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA).[2] The NHRC is responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, defined by the act as "Rights Relating To Life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the constitution or embodied in the international covenants and enforceable by courts in India".[3]

Functions of NHRC

The Protection of Human Rights Act mandates the NHRC to perform the following:

Composition

The NHRC consists of the chairperson and five members (excluding the ex-officio members) [4]

The sitting Judge of the Supreme Court or sitting Chief Justice of any High Court can be appointed only after the consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

Chairman and members

Vijaya Bharathi Sayani is the acting chairperson of the commission.[6] The last chairperson of the NHRC was Justice Arun Kumar Mishra, who completed his tenure on 1 June 2024.The other members are:

Ex-officio members:

Core Groups[8]

State Human Rights Commission

A state government may constitute a body known as the Human Rights Commission of that State to exercise the powers conferred upon, and to perform the functions assigned to, a State Commission. In accordance with the amendment brought in TPHRA,1993[9] point No.10 below is the list[10] of State Human Rights Commissions formed to perform the functions of the commission as stated under chapter V of TPHRA,1993 (with amendment act 2006). At present, 25 states have constituted SHRC[11]

Appointment

Section 2, 3 and 4 of TPHRA lay down the rules for appointment to the NHRC. The chairperson and members of the NHRC are appointed by the President of India, on the recommendation of a committee consisting of:

List of Chairpersons

Controversy

A report concerning the manner in which the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case was rejected, a case involving high-ranking officials, opened the organisation up to questioning over the usefulness of human rights commissions set up by the government at the national and state levels.[citation needed]In mid-2011, the chairman of the NHRC, ex-Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan came under a cloud for allegedly owning assets disproportionate to his income.[16] His son-in-law P. V. Srinijan, an Indian National Congress politician, had to resign for suddenly coming into possession of land worth Rs. 25 lakhs.[17] Many prominent jurists, including former CJ J. S. Verma, SC ex-Judge V. R. Krishna Iyer, noted jurist Fali S. Nariman, former NHRC member Sudarshan Agrawal and prominent activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, have called on Balakrishnan's resignation pending from the HRC pending inquiry.[18] In February 2012, the Supreme Court inquired of the government regarding the status of the inquiry.[19]

Human Rights Campaign's recommendations

NHRC held that 16 out of 19 police encounters with suspected Maoists in Guntur and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh, prior to 2002 were fake and recommended to Government payment of compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the families.[20]

References

  1. ^ Annual Report 1993–94 of the National Human Rights Commission
  2. ^ The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, as amended by the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006
  3. ^ Nath, Damini. "NHRC issues notice to T.N." The Hindu. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. ^ The Commission consists of a Chairperson, five full-time Members and four deemed Members. The statute lays down qualifications for the appointment of the Chairperson and Members of the Commission
  5. ^ Singh, Vijaita (8 October 2017). "Ex-SC judges could soon be appointed NHRC chiefs". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  6. ^ "Vijaya Bharathi Sayani appointed acting chairperson of NHRC". India Today NE. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  7. ^ THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2019
  8. ^ "Core Groups | National Human Rights Commission India". nhrc.nic.in. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Documents | National Human Rights Commission India" (PDF). Nhrc.nic.in. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  10. ^ "SHRC, NHRC, India". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  11. ^ "SHRC, NHRC, India". Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Gujarat Orders". Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  13. ^ Bandari, Pavan Kumar (24 December 2019). "Telangana state Human Rights Commission gets new chairman and members". www.thehansindia.com. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  14. ^ "Dr. Justice Shivaraj V. Patil appointed Acting Chairperson of NHRC | National Human Rights Commission India". nhrc.nic.in. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Justice Pant appointed NHRC acting chairperson". The Hindu. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  16. ^ CBDT to probe ex-CJI Balakrishnan's assets -Videos India:IBNLive Videos. Ibnlive.in.com (2011-06-22). Retrieved on 2012-09-30.
  17. ^ Ex-CJI's son amasses property in four years. Deccanherald.com (2012-09-21). Retrieved on 2012-09-30.
  18. ^ Fali Nariman wants judicial probe against ex-CJI, kin's assets : South News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (2011-01-03). Retrieved on 2012-09-30.
  19. ^ SC asks Centre about action taken against ex-CJI KG Balakrishnan – India News – IBNLive. Ibnlive.in.com. Retrieved on 2012-09-30.
  20. ^ "NHRC declares 16 out of 19 encounters fake, orders compensation of Rs.80 lakh". 13 July 2012.

External links