National Human Rights Commission

Concept of human rights

Throughout human history, human rights as a concept is constantly evolving.
These rights are associated with the laws, customs and religion from a long
time. People’s duties, rights and responsibilities are addressed in five oldest
written sources which are the Hindu Vedas, the Babylonian Code of
Hammurabi, the Bible, the Quran and the Analects of Confucius. These rights
are provided in different ways in different countries. In India, these rights are
incorporated in the Constitution whereas in the UK these rights are provided
through precedents.
Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to
everywhere. Human rights also put the responsibility on the person to not to
violate another person’s human rights. Human rights are of various types such
as economic rights, social and civil rights, political and cultural rights. For the
protection and implementation of human rights, not much codification was
done prior to the second world war.
Development of human rights
Developments in religious, cultural, philosophical and legal areas lead to the
development of human rights. Several ancient documents include the concept
of human rights. Ashoka the Great issues a document between 272-231 BC
known as the Edicts of Ashoka and another document was drafted by
Muhammad which is known as the Constitution of Medina of 622 AD.
However, human rights became a universal phenomenon as it gained
importance since World War II because millions of people lost their lives.
Seeing this sad state of affairs the United Nations took a pledge to provide a
measure for the fundamental freedom to all and universal respect to all the
people and to their rights. For this, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. It was seen as a
positive sign towards the promotion and protection of human rights.
Human rights are the rights related to life, liberty, equality, and dignity of the
individual defined in Section 2(d) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1933.
These rights are guaranteed by the Constitution of India and are incorporated
in the International Covenants such as right to life, freedom of speech, right to
religion as well as right to voting. and are enforceable by the Indian Courts.
Established on October 12, 1933, the National Human Rights Commission aims
to protect and promote human rights. The Protection of Human Rights
Act,1933 contains a statue which is in accordance with the Paris Principles that
were adopted at an international workshop on national institutions for the
promotion and protection of human rights which was held in Paris on October
1991. It was endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in
its Resolution 48/134 of December 20, 1933. The National Human Rights
Commission incorporates India’s concern for the promotion and protection of
human rights.
A set of internationally recognized standards are provided in the Paris
Principles evaluate the independence, credibility and effectiveness of the
National Human Rights Institutions. In order to be fully effective, the National
Human Rights Institutions should have an official order to deal with all types of
human rights. They should have a proper and transparent selection process.
The National Human Rights Institutions must have sufficient access to
resources and the institution should be independent in law as well as practice.

National Human Rights Commission

National Human Rights Commission, abbreviated as NHRC, is a public body

which is constituted for benefiting the citizens of the country. It has been
playing vital roles since its establishment on October 12, 1993.

Human Right's means the rights relating and including the right 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.

NHRC was established after a thorough assessment of needs for establishing

such bodies in order to address the human rights related issues and by keeping
in consideration the ways and measures to apply for their protection. Thus, the
Central Government of India established the National Human Rights
Commission of India in the year 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights
Act which itself was made effective in the same year. NHRC was given a
complete statutory basis by The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (TPHRA).
NHRC since then is considered as a national human rights institution.

NHRC is one of the important Commission for creating awareness and in

promoting the rights which have been given the key importance in the Act.

History:
The National Human Rights Commission was established on October 12, 1993.
The statute of NHRC is contained in the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993,
and further it is in conformity with the Paris Principles, adopted at the first
International workshop on national institutions for the promotion and
protection of human rights held in Paris in October in the year 1991, and as
endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in Resolution 48/134
of December 20, 1993. The NHRC is an embodiment of India's concern towards
the promotion and protection of human rights.

Composition of NHRC:
National Human Rights Commission is an independent body constituted by the
Central Government and consists of highly knowledgeable team to work in the
areas of human rights.

The composition of this Commission is:

A Chairperson who is a retired Chief Justice of India
One Member who is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court
One Member who is or has been the Chief Justice of a High Court
Two persons having knowledge or practical experience in matters relating to
Human Rights.
The President appoints the chairperson and the members of National Human
Rights Commission, for which a committee nominates the names. This
committee consists of Chairperson, the Prime Minister and the members
including Home Minister, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Leader of the
Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman.

Further in addition to this, the Chairperson of the National Commission for

Minorities, the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes and the National Commission for Women are deemed to be members of
the National Human Rights Commission for the discharge of specific functions
laid down.

Removal of a Member of the Commission:

Section 5 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, lays down the
procedures and ground for the removal of any member of the Commission.
Further, the President can remove the Chairperson or any other member if he:
Is adjudged an insolvent; or
Engages during his term of office in any other paid employment outside the
duties of his office;
Is unfit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of mind or body; or
Is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court; or
Is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence, which in the
opinion of the President involves moral turpitude[1].

Additionally, the Chairperson or any other member of the Commission can only
be removed from his office by the order of the President on the ground of
proved misbehavior or incapacity.
However, in these cases, the President is supposed to refer the matter to the
Supreme Court for conducting an inquiry. And if the Supreme Court, after the
inquiry, upholds the cause of removal and advises so, then the President can
remove the Chairperson or a member of NHRC.
Functions of NHRC:
The National Human Rights Commission has a very wide mandate and includes
civil and political rights, economic rights, social and cultural rights, and other
group rights. Section 12 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, lays
down that the Commission shall perform all or any of the following functions,
namely:
.Inquire, on its own initiative or on a petition presented to it by a victim or any
person on his behalf, into complaint of[2]:
Violation of human rights or abetment
or negligence in the prevention of such violation, by a public servant;
.Intervene in any proceeding involving any allegation of violation of human
rights pending before a court with the approval of such court;
.Visit, by intimating to the State Government, any jail or any other institution
under the control of the State Government, where persons are detained or
lodged for purposes of treatment, reformation or protection, in order to study
the living condition of the inmates and make recommendations thereon;
.Review the safeguards by or under the Constitution or any law for the time
being in force for 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 further recommend appropriate remedial measures on the
same;
.Study treaties and other international instruments on human rights and make
recommendations for their effective implementation;
Spread human rights literacy 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[3];
Encourage the efforts of non - Governmental organizations and institutions
working in the field of human rights;
Undertake and promote research in the field of human rights.
Other functions considered necessary for promotion of human rights.
Responsibility of Government authority.
The Central Government or the State Government or any other Authority is
supposed to indicate its comments including actions that are taken on the
report/recommendations of the Commission within a period of one month in
respect of complaints against public servants other than members of the
armed forces.
In respect of complaints against members of the armed forces, the Central
Government has to indicate action taken on the recommendations within three
months to the Commission.
Issue of the one-year limitation period.
Purpose - not to have another judicial body it is an institution which will give
primary focus on the allegation of violation of human rights and to provide
quicker redressal as compared to other redressal mechanisms. The court:
District Courts to the Supreme Court are always available to the people and the
Commission's role is not to replace these mechanisms.

Powers of Commission relating to inquiries:

While inquiring into complaints under the Act, the Commission shall have all
the powers of a civil court trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908,
and in particular the following, namely[4];

Summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on

oath;
discovery and production of any document;
receiving evidence on affidavits;
requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office;
issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents;
any other matter which may be prescribed.

Major Human Rights issues in India:

Despite India having the status of world's largest sovereign, secular, democratic
republic, human rights in India are considered as complicated issue due to the
country's large size and population, widespread poverty, lack of proper
education, diverse culture.

Nobody can deny the humongous magnitude of human right violations that are
taking place in our country and are having huge effects on the being. The
world's largest democracy is plagued by widespread violations. Few major
issues which are taken up by NHRC are:
Custodial Torture
Right to Work and Labour Rights
Arbitrary Arrest and Detention
Excessive Powers of the Armed Forces and the Police
Sexual Violence
Child Labour
Violence and discrimination against Women, Children
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Rights

Conclusion:
If human rights commissions are to truly protect the human rights in India, it
needs a revamp. The efficacy and authority of the commissions will be greatly
enhanced if their decisions are made enforceable by the government as well.
Misuse of laws by the law enforcing agencies itself is often considered as the
root cause of human right violations.
Therefore, in order to make the efforts of the commission more impactful, then
the weakness of laws are supposed to be removed and the laws that run
contrary to the human rights should be amended or repealed.

As Chairman Justice K G Balakrishnan has rightly pointed out, that in order to

improve and strengthen the human rights situation in India, the Human Right
defenders, state and non-state actors need to work in tandem.

Clearly, the NHRC, with special regard to children's rights, is considered to a

great extent a formidable entity. While, it enjoys formidable legal strength on
its panel, it is limited as it can only make recommendations, and cannot
enforce its decisions.

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