26 October 2001
Times News Network THE TIMES OF INDIA
By Akshaya Mukul
New Delhi: After eight years of operation the inherent weaknesses of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and its originating legislation are becoming increasingly evident, says the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC) and its report “Judgement Reserved: The Case of the NHRC”, Finalized last
Month and submitted to the commission, the report is highly critical of the home ministry for “displaying intransigence…with regard to recommendations submitted by the NHRC.”
According to SAHRDC’s Ravi Nair, “The report is constructive. We only hope the commission’s annual reports serve as the only source of information on its functioning, “they tend to be severely deficient.” For example, the 1997-98 reports provided descriptions of only 24 of the 40,000 plus cases pending for consideration during the year.
“Most descriptions in the report were extremely brief, vague and incomplete,” it adds. In fact, the 1998-99 annual report of the commission is the last report to be placed before Parliament.
The SAHRDC report notes that the Central government is willing to grant the commission the independence, which the Paris Principle of 1991 deemed imperative for effective governance. “This is demonstrated by the futile efforts of the NHRC to push through amendments to the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA) 1993,” it says.