The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the State government to fill up vacant positions in the State Human Rights Commission in two months and observed that the government’s failure in not convening a meeting to address the issue could not be treated as an excuse.
Fiat to CM
The Division Bench of Justices K. K. Sasidharan and G.R. Swaminathan directed members of the committee, comprising the Chief Minister (as chairman), Assembly Speaker, Home Minister and Leader of the Opposition, to convene a meeting at the earliest to complete the appointment process.
The State Human Rights Commission(SHRC) has been functioning only with Chairman Justice T. Meenakumari as its sole member for more than a year after the retirement of members K. Baskaran and Jayanthi. “It is the duty of the government to fill up the posts under Section 22 of the Protection of Human Rights Act,1993,” said the Bench.
