Human rights groups question delay in appointment of NHRC chairperson

India’s top human rights body, which should have a chair plus five full-time members, currently has just one woman member; NHRC accreditation by global human rights group deferred for second year in a row

Updated - September 13, 2024 07:44 pm IST - NEW DELHI

National Human Rights Commission.

National Human Rights Commission.

The National Human Rights Commission has not had a full-time chairperson since June and has only one member to fill five positions. Human rights groups are warning that the delay in filling vacant posts will hurt India’s global reputation.

The NHRC chairperson’s post has been lying vacant for three-and-a-half months, since former Supreme Court justice Arun Mishra retired from the position on June 1.

The country’s apex human rights body should have a chairperson as well as five other full-time members. However, the full weight of responsibilities currently lies on the shoulders of Vijayabharathi Sayani, who is NHRC’s sole full-time member and was appointed as the acting chairperson on June 5. She also fulfils the requirement for a woman member in the panel. The Commission has seven ex-officio or deemed members as well.

‘Lack of transparency’

Earlier this year, the Geneva-based UN-linked Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) deferred NHRC’s accreditation for the second year in a row. The Geneva-based group cited several reasons, including the lack of transparency in appointing members to the Commission, and the poor gender and minority representation of the panel.

Amnesty International noted out that almost five months after the GANHRI deferred NHRC’s ‘A’ status, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been unable to complete the formal recruitment of members to the Commission, and now has delayed the appointment of a chairperson as well.

“The delay in holding a free and fair recruitment is symbolic of the NHRC’s and Indian government’s clear lack of political will to act and apparent reluctance to effectively respond to and address the deteriorating human rights violations in the country and to uphold transparency and accountability,” says Aakar Patel, who chairs Amnesty International India’s board.

Funding, independence needed

The U.S. State Department’s 2023 human rights report has flagged dozens of different kinds of human rights abuses in India, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions, repeated internet shutdowns, and violence targeting members of ethnic and caste minorities.

Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said that the Indian government should not only appoint an NHRC chief but should also ensure that the Commission is independent and properly resourced.

“India’s NHRC rating for compliance with the Paris Principles is still pending because of serious failures of the previous Commission to act independently,” she added.

Changed criteria

The NHRC chairperson’s post could only be occupied by a retired Chief Justice of India (CJI) till 2019, when the Parliament amended the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 and revised this eligibility criteria to allow any Supreme Court judge to head the Commission. Justice Mishra was the first non-CJI who occupied the post for three years, starting from June 1, 2021.

“The amendment happened as the government claimed that CJIs were showing reluctance in joining the Commission after retirement,” a senior Commission official says, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Perennial problem

He added that this is not the first time that the Union government has shown a callous approach in appointing the NHRC chief; there have been similar delays at least thrice under the BJP-led government. “The situation was not very different at the time of the Congress,” he added.

READ:Candid notes on the NHRC’s status deferral

There have been long gaps between the stints of the last four NHRC chiefs, during which the Commission has been left headless. Justice Mishra was appointed more than six months after former CJI H.L. Dattu retired as NHRC chief, in December 2020. Justice Dattu’s appointment, in February 2016, came almost nine months after the retirement of his predecessor Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, who was the sixth and longest-serving chairperson of the Commission. In his turn, Justice Balakrishna was appointed over a year after Justice S. Rajendra Babu retired from the post in May 2009.

‘Lethargic approach’

In July 2023, the Supreme Court decided to examine a plea accusing the Union government of taking a “lethargic” approach to filling up vacancies in the NHRC. A Bench headed by the current CJI D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice on a plea by activist Radhakanta Tripathy, who said that the NHRC was functioning at just half its strength.

A year later, in July 2024, the top court again granted two weeks time to the Union government to file a reply to the same plea; now, however, the Commission is running without a chairperson and four of its permanent members.

Mr. Tripathy alleged that, despite the date fixed by the CJI bench, the matter of vacant posts in NHRC is not being listed, although the time given to the government to respond ended almost two months back.

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