National Human Rights Commission of India


The National Human Rights Commission of India is a statutory 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. The NHRC is responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, which are 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 the government of India or negligence of such violation by a public servant
  • 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 work 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
A serving judge of the Supreme Court or incumbent Chief Justice of any High Court can be appointed only after the consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

Chairman and members

Justice V. Ramasubramanian is the current chairperson of the commission, serving since 23 December 2024 onwards.
The other members are:
  • Dr. Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi - Member
  • Smt Vijaya Bharathi Sayani - Member
  • Shri Priyank Kanoongo - Member
Ex-officio members:
  • Chairperson, National Commission Scheduled Castes
  • Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
  • Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities
  • 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

    Core Groups

Source:
  • Core Group on Older Persons
  • Core Advisory Group on Environment, Climate Change & Human Rights
  • Core Group on Human Rights Defenders and NGOs
  • Core Advisory Group on Bonded Labour
  • Core group on LGBTI issues
  • Core Advisory Group on Business and Human Rights
  • Core Group on Disabilities
  • Core group on Health and Mental Health
  • Core Group on Right to Food
  • Core Group on Rights of Women
  • Core Group of NGOs in the Commission
  • Core Advisory Group on Criminal Justice System Reforms
  • Core Group on Mental Health in the Commission Order

    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. At present, 25 states have constituted SHRC
State CommissionCityDate constituted
Assam Human Rights CommissionGuwahati19 January 1996
Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights CommissionKurnool2 August 2006
Bihar Human Rights CommissionPatna3 January 2000
Chhattisgarh Human Rights CommissionRaipur16 April 2001
Gujarat State Human Rights CommissionGandhinagar12 September 2006
Goa Human Rights CommissionPanaji2011
Meghalaya State Human Rights CommissionShillongJuly 2016
Himachal Pradesh State Human Rights CommissionShimla--
Kerala State Human Rights CommissionThiruvananthapuram11 December 1998
Karnataka State Human Rights CommissionBangalore28 June 2005
Madhya Pradesh Human Rights CommissionBhopal1 September 1995
Maharashtra State Human Rights CommissionMumbai6 March 2001
Manipur State Human Rights CommissionImphal2003
Odisha Human Rights CommissionBhubaneswar27 January 2000
Punjab State Human Rights CommissionChandigarh17 March 1997
Rajasthan State Human Rights CommissionJaipur18 January 1999
State Human Rights Commission Tamil NaduChennai17 April 1997
Uttar Pradesh Human Rights CommissionLucknow7 October 2002
West Bengal Human Rights CommissionKolkata8 January 1994
Jharkhand State Human Rights CommissionRanchi2010
Sikkim State Human Rights CommissionGangtok18 October 2008
Uttarakhand Human Rights CommissionDehradun13 May 2013
Haryana Human Rights CommissionChandigarh2012
Tripura Human Rights CommissionAgartala2015
Telangana State Human Rights CommissionHyderabad2019

Appointment

Sections 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:

Controversy

A report concerning how the Shivani Bhatnagar 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 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, SC ex-Judge V. R. Krishna Iyer, noted jurist Fali S. Nariman, former NHRC member Sudarshan Agrawal and prominent activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, have called on Balakrishnan's resignation pending from the NHRC pending inquiry. In February 2012, the Supreme Court of India inquired of the government regarding the status of the inquiry.
The National Human Rights Commission of India had its accreditation with the U.N recognised Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions deferred for a second consecutive year in 2024, due to concerns regarding its compliance with the Paris Principles. The deferral was attributed to issues such as a lack of transparency in the appointment of NHRC members, the inclusion of police officers in human rights investigations, and inadequate gender and minority representation within the commission’s composition and political meddling.

Human Rights Campaign's recommendations

The 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 the Government payment of compensation of ₹5 lakh each to the kin of the families.