National Human Rights Commission

• 14 Oct 2021

Why in News

The 28^th anniversary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was observed on 12^th October 2021.

Key Points

• About
  
  • It is a watchdog of human rights in the country, i.e. the rights related to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by Indian Constitution or embodied in the international covenants and enforceable by courts in India.
• Establishment
  
  • Established on 12^th October, 1993, under Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993. It was amended by the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006 and Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2019
  • It was established in conformity with the Paris Principles, adopted for the promotion and protection of human rights in Paris (October, 1991) and endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December, 1993.
• Composition
  
  • Key Members
    
    • It is a multi-member body consisting of a chairman and five members. A person who has been the Chief Justice of India or a judge of the Supreme Court is a chairman.
  • Appointment
    
    • The chairman and members are appointed by the President on the recommendations of a six-member committee consisting of the Prime Minister as its head, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, leaders of the Opposition in both the Houses of Parliament and the Union Home Minister.
  • Tenure
    
    • The chairman and members hold office for a term of three years or until they attain the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier.
    • The President can remove the chairman or any member from the office under some circumstances.
• Role and Function
  
  • It has all the powers of a civil court and its proceedings have a judicial character.
  • It is empowered to utilise the services of any officer or investigation agency of the Central government or any state government for the purpose of investigating complaints of human rights violation.
  • It can look into a matter within one year of its occurrence, i.e the Commission is not empowered to inquire into any matter after the expiry of one year from the date on which the act constituting violation of human rights is alleged to have been committed.
  • The functions of the commission are mainly recommendatory in nature.
    
    • It has no power to punish the violators of human rights, nor to award any relief including monetary relief to the victim.
  • It has limited role, powers and jurisdiction with respect to the violation of human rights by the members of the armed forces.
  • It is not empowered to act when human rights violations through private parties take place.

Source: HT