NHRC Chairperson

It is regretting that Union government has failed to appoint a new chairperson of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) ever since its earlier chairperson Justice S Rajender Babu retired quite some time ago. There is an urgent need of amending NHRC Act whereby any retired Judge of Supreme Court rather than only retired Chief Justice of India may be made NHRC chairperson. Since post has to be filled by consensus amongst Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, such a wider range of selecting NHRC chairperson is rather necessary.

Even though name of Justice YK Sabharwal might not have been considered because of some controversies/complaints, it is beyond understanding why Justice RC Lahoti was not given a chance to serve as NHRC chairperson. If a person is taken fit to head Supreme Court, then there should not be any disqualification to prevent him/her from chairing NHRC. However if a retired Chief Justice of India lacks quality to chair NHRC, then rethink is necessary even on mode of appointing a Chief Justice of India!

SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL
(Guinness Record Holder & RTI Activist)
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