National Human rights Commision of India

NHRC of India is an independent statutory body established on 12 October, 1993 as per

provisions of Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, later amended in 2006. It is the
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.
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 on 20 December, 1993.

Composition of NHRC

Section 3 of Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 talks about the composition of the
commission
The National Human Rights Commission comprises of a Chairperson. The Chairperson
should be a retired Chief Justice of India.( or judge of SC as per the amendment in 2019)
There are four other members. These are:
 There should be one Member who is, or has been, a Judge of the Supreme Court.
 There should be one Member who is, or has been, the Chief Justice of the High
Court. 
 Two other members should be there who have the knowledge or practical
experience in matters related to human rights.  ( The protection of HR Bills,2019
allows appointment 3 members including 1 women)

Functions of the National Human Right Commission 

The functions of the National Human Rights Commission are as follows:
1. Conduct inquiries on its own or on the complaint received from the victim or some
other person on behalf of the victim. 
2. The National Human Rights Commission can intervene in the proceedings of the
courts which involves any type of allegation regarding violation of human rights, such
intervention will be done after prior approval of the court. 
3.
4. Conduct research to study the living conditions of the inmates in prison and other
detention places and make suggestions to the concerned authority for the
improvement. 
5. Reviews the factors which hinder human rights.
6. It studies international instruments regarding human rights and gives suggestions to
the concerned authority for their implementation.
7. Educate the people regarding human rights available to them and steps they can take
to protect their human rights by organizing seminars, workshops etc. 
8. For the promotion of Human rights, the National Commission for Human Rights can
perform any other function that is considered important.
Limitations of NHRC
 NHRC does not have any mechanism of investigation. In majority cases, it asks the
concerned Central and State Governments to investigate the cases of the violation of
Human Rights
 It has been termed as ‘India’s teasing illusion’ by Soli Sorabjee (former Attorney-
General of India) due to its incapacity to render any practical relief to the aggrieved
party.
 NHRC can only make recommendations, without the power to enforce decisions.
 Many times NHRC is viewed as post-retirement destinations for judges and
bureaucrats with political affiliation moreover, inadequacy of funds also hamper its
working.

 A large number of grievances go unaddressed because NHRC cannot investigate the
complaint registered after one year of incident.
 Government often out rightly rejects recommendation of NHRC or there is partial
compliance to these recommendations.
 State human rights commissions cannot call for information from the national
government, which means that they are implicitly denied the power to investigate
armed forces under national control.
 National Human Rights Commission powers related to violations of human rights by
the armed forces have been largely restricted.

Appointment of the members 

Section 4 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 provides for the appointment of the
members of the commission. 
On the recommendation of a committee, the President of India appoints the chairperson
and the members of the National Human Rights Commission. The committee consists of the
following members:
1. Prime Minister of India [CHAIRPERSON] 
2. Home Minister of India 
3. Speaker of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition [Lok Sabha] 
4. Leader of Opposition [Rajya Sabha]
5. Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha 

Removal of Chairperson and Members 

Section 5 of Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 provides for resignation and removal of
chairperson and other members. 
Resignation 
The chairperson or other members may in writing submit his/her resignation to the
President of India.
Removal
The chairperson or other members can be removed from the office on the ground of
proved misbehaviour or incapacity by the President of India but before doing so, the
President is required to refer the matter to the Supreme Court, which will hold an enquiry
into the matter. On the basis of the reply of the Supreme Court, the President is required to
take the decision. 
There are five grounds provided on which President may remove the Chairperson or any
other member from his office. These are:
1. If that person has been declared as insolvent,
2. If that person engages during his term of office in any other paid employment
outside the duties of his office, 
3. If that person is unfit to continue because of the infirmity of the mind or body,
4. If that person is of unsound mind as declared by a competent Court, 
5. If that person has been declared as guilty of criminal offence and is sentenced to
imprisonment and if in the opinion of the President it involves moral turpitude. 

Term of office of Chairperson and members 

The term of the office of Chairperson and members of the National Human Rights
Commission is provided under Section 6 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1933.
1. For a period of 5 five years or until the Chairperson reaches 70 years of age,
whichever is earlier the Chairperson can hold the office. 
2. For a period of 5 years, the members that are appointed can hold the office. These
members are also eligible for re-appointment for another term provided, that
member should cease to hold the office after attainment of 70 years of age.
Under the Government of India or the State Government, the person who holds the office
of the Chairperson or a member will not be eligible for further employment.