National Human Rights Commission of India explained

Agencyname:National Human Rights Commission
Nativename:राष्ट्रीय मानवाधिकार आयोग
Nativenamea:NHRC
Logocaption:Logo of the NHRC
Motto:sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ
Mottotranslated:
Country:India
Federal:No
Map:India (orthographic projection).svg
Sizearea:3,287,263 km2 (1,269,219 sq mi)
Legaljuris:India
Governingbody:Ministry of Home Affairs (India)
Headquarters:MANAV ADHIKAR BHAVAN, BLOCK-C, GPO COMPLEX, INA, New Delhi - 110 023.
Chief1name:Vijaya Bharathi Sayani (Acting)
Chief1position:Chairperson
Chief2name:Bharat Lal
Chief2position:Secretary General (CEO)

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]

State Commission City Date constituted
19 January 1996
2 August 2006
3 January 2000
16 April 2001
Gujarat State Human Rights Commission[12] 12 September 2006
2011
Meghalaya State Human Right Commission July 2016
--
11 December 1998
28 June 2005
1 September 1995
6 March 2001
Manipur State Human Rights Commission 2003
Bhubaneswar27 January 2000
17 March 1997
18 January 1999
Chennai17 April 1997
7 October 2002
8 January 1994
Jharkhand State Human Rights Commission 2010
18 October 2008
13 May 2013
Haryana Human Rights Commission 2012
Tripura Human rights Commission 2015
2019[13]

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

Sr. No. Portrait Name Tenure
1. 12 October 1993 24 November 1996
2. 26 November 1996 24 October 1999
3. 4 November 1999 17 January 2003
4. 17 February 2003 31 October 2006
- Justice Shivaraj Patil
[14] 		1 November 2006 1 April 2007
5. 2 April 2007 31 May 2009
- Justice G. P. Mathur
1 June 2009 6 June 2010
6. 7 June 2010 11 May 2015
- Justice Cyriac Joseph
11 May 2015 28 February 2016
7. 29 February 2016 2 December 2020
– Justice Prafulla Chandra Pant
25 April 2021[15] 1 June 2021
8.Justice Arun Kumar Mishra2 June 20211 June 2024
_Vijaya Bharathi Sayani 2 June 2024Incumbent

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.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]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://nhrc.nic.in/ Annual Report 1993–94
  2. http://nhrc.nic.in/documents/Publications/HRActEng.pdf The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993
  3. News: NHRC issues notice to T.N.. Nath. Damini. The Hindu. 2017-02-23. en.
  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. News: Ex-SC judges could soon be appointed NHRC chiefs. Vijaita. Singh. The Hindu . 8 October 2017. www.thehindu.com.
  6. Web site: 2024-06-03 . Vijaya Bharathi Sayani appointed acting chairperson of NHRC . 2024-07-07 . India Today NE . en.
  7. THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (AMENDMENT)ACT, 2019
  8. Web site: Core Groups National Human Rights Commission India . 2023-05-27 . nhrc.nic.in.
  9. Web site: Documents | National Human Rights Commission India . Nhrc.nic.in . 2018-11-14.
  10. Web site: SHRC, NHRC, India . 4 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151208063348/http://www.nhrc.nic.in/shrc.htm . 8 December 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
  11. Web site: SHRC, NHRC, India . 17 September 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160920225436/http://nhrc.nic.in/shrc.htm . 20 September 2016 . dead . dmy-all .
  12. Web site: Gujarat Orders . 26 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180708163121/http://nhrc.nic.in/GujratOrders.htm . 8 July 2018 . dead . dmy-all .
  13. Web site: Bandari. Pavan Kumar. 2019-12-24. Telangana state Human Rights Commission gets new chairman and members. 2020-10-13. www.thehansindia.com. en.
  14. Web site: Dr. Justice Shivaraj V. Patil appointed Acting Chairperson of NHRC National Human Rights Commission India . 2023-10-06 . nhrc.nic.in.
  15. News: Justice Pant appointed NHRC acting chairperson . 4 May 2021 . The Hindu . 3 May 2021 . en-IN.
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20110625082054/http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/161758/cbdt-to-probe-excji-balakrishnans-assets.html CBDT to probe ex-CJI Balakrishnan's assets -Videos India:IBNLive Videos
  17. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/123946/ex-cjis-son-amasses-property.html Ex-CJI's son amasses property in four years
  18. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/fali-nariman-wants-judicial-probe-against-ex-cji-kins-assets/1/125435.html Fali Nariman wants judicial probe against ex-CJI, kin's assets : South News – India Today
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20120216024134/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sc-asks-centre-about-action-taken-against-excji/229787-3.html SC asks Centre about action taken against ex-CJI KG Balakrishnan – India News – IBNLive
  20. News: NHRC declares 16 out of 19 encounters fake, orders compensation of Rs.80 lakh. 13 July 2012.

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