Published: Thursday, Jun 3, 2010, 1:12 IST
By Harish Gupta | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_balakrishnan-will-be-new-nhrc-chairman_1391270
Retired Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan will be the new chairman of the national human rights commission (NHRC).
A meeting of the selection committee chaired by prime minister Manmohan Singh cleared his name on Tuesday night.
But the appointment came with a rider for the government.
BJP’s Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, who are members of the selection panel being opposition leaders in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, are reported to have expressed concern that they did not have much choice since the government proposed only Balakrishnan’s name.
They consented only when the government agreed to consider amending the NHRC Act to include persons other former CJIs.
BJP is of the view that the Act should be amended as it limits the scope of selection and does not provide many options to selectors.
It provides that a former CJI alone is entitled to become NHRC chairman for five years, or till s/he retires at 70, whichever is less.
The Act says if a retiring chief justice is not immediately appointed NHRC chairman, s/he will never have a full tenure of five years.
It is because of these flaws in the Act that NHRC was without a chairman for more than a year. The government was opposed to the appointment of former CJI YK Sabharwal, who retired three years ago.
Sources told DNA the government had sent Balakrishnan’s file for presidential approval. He will perhaps be the first chairman to hold the post for full five years. He retired as CJI on May 12.
