CJI laments absence of human rights commissions in most states

Lucknow, Aug 5 (UNI) Chief Justice of India Y K Sabarwal today regretted that most Indian states are still to form state human rights commissions despite a law being enacted 13 years ago.

Addressing a gathering here after laying the foundation stone of Uttar Pradesh State Human Rights Commission Building, Justice Sabarwal said despite the Protection of Human Rights Act being enacted in 1993, only 14 states have formed these bodies.

He wondered whether ''we'' were serious on the issue. ''Out of these 14, four have no chairperson...thus it makes 10 states, which practically have a state human rights commission.'' He said financial crunch was often cited as the reason behind absence of these institutions. He pointed that judiciary used less than a per cent of the total expenditure incurred by any state.

Giving the example of Maharashtra, he said the state human rights commission was defunct, while Kerala had an acting chairperson.

In a word of advice to states, the CJI maintained that competent state human rights commissions would only help the governments runs their states in a better way.

UNI NAB VS DKB HT1600