The National Human Rights Commission of India (abbreviated as NHRC) is a statutory public body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA).The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993
as amended by the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006 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".

Functions of NHRC

The Protection of Human Rights Act mandates the NHRC to perform the following: * Proactively or reactively inquire into violations of human rights by government of India or negligence of such violation by a

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

* The protection of human rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation * Review the factors, including acts of terrorism that inhibit the enjoyment of human rights and recommend appropriate remedial measures * To study treaties and other international instruments on human rights and make recommendations for their effective implementation * Undertake and promote research in the field of human rights * To visit jails and study the condition of inmates * Engage in human rights education among various sections of society and promote awareness of the safeguards available for the protection of these rights through publications, the media, seminars and other available means * Encourage the efforts of NGOs and institutions that works in the field of human rights voluntarily. * Considering the necessity for the protection of human rights. * Requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office.

Composition

The NHRC consists of: The chairperson and five members (excluding the ex-officio members) * A Chairperson, who has been a Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court. * One member who is, or has been, a Judge of the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

and one member who is, or has been, the Chief Justice of a High Court. * Three Members, out of which at least one shall be a woman to be appointed from amongst persons having knowledge of, or practical experience in, matters relating to human rights. * In addition, the Chairpersons of National Commissions viz., National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Women ,

National Commission for Minorities The Union Government set up the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Six religious communities, viz; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains have been noti ...

, National Commission for Backward Classes, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights; and the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities serve as ex officio members. 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

Arun Kumar Mishra, a former Judge of Supreme Court is current chairperson of the commission (11th chairperson of NHRC). The last chairman of the NHRC was Justice

H. L. Dattu Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu (born 3 December 1950) is a former Chief Justice of India, and the former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. As the chief justice, he served for nearly 14 months, from 28 September 2014 to 2 ...

, who completed his tenure on 2 December 2020. The other members are: * Mr. Justice M.M. Kumar * Dr. D.M. Mulay * Mr. Rajiv Jain Ex-officio members: * Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Castes * Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes *

Sardar Iqbal Singh Lalpura Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

, Chairperson,

* Rekha Sharma, Chairperson, National Commission for Women * Chairperson, National Commission for Backward Classes * Chairperson National Commission for Protection of Child Rights * Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities

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 point No.10 below is the list 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

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: * The Prime Minister (Chairperson) * The Home Minister * The

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) * The

in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) * The Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Lower House) * The Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House)

List of Chairpersons

Controversy

A report concerning the manner in which the

Shivani Bhatnagar Shivani Bhatnagar (died 23 January 1999) was an Indian journalist who worked for the ''Indian Express'' newspaper. Biography Bhatnagar's murder on 23 January 1999 became a scandal that reached into the top levels of Indian politics. Indian Po ...

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 Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan (born 12 May 1945) is an Indian judge who has been the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India. He is a former Chief Justice of India. He was the first judge from Kerala to become the ...

came under a cloud for allegedly owning assets disproportionate to his income. 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. Many prominent jurists, including former CJ

J. S. Verma Jagdish Sharan Verma (18 January 1933 – 22 April 2013) was an Indian jurist who served as the 27th Chief Justice of India from 25 March 1997 to 18 January 1998. He was the chairman of National Human Rights Commission from 1999 to 2003, and ...

, SC ex-Judge V. R. Krishna Iyer, noted jurist

Fali S. Nariman Fali Sam Nariman (born 10 January 1929) is an Indian jurist. He is the senior advocate to the Supreme Court of India since 1971 and was the President of the Bar Association of India from 1991 to 2010. Nariman is an internationally recognised jur ...

, former NHRC member

Sudarshan Agrawal Sudarshan Agarwal (19 June 1931 – 3 July 2019). was an Indian civil servant who served as Governor of Uttarakhand (2003–2007) and Sikkim (2007–2008).

and prominent activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, have called on Balakrishnan's resignation pending from the HRC pending inquiry. In February 2012, the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

inquired of the government regarding the status of the inquiry.

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.

References

External links

National Human Rights Commission Official Website

Judicial Economist
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Human Rights Commission Of India Human rights organisations based in India National human rights institutions Executive branch of the government of India Indian commissions and inquiries 1993 establishments in Delhi Organisations based in Delhi