NHRC summons Delhi Chief Secy to submit report on Nirbhaya case

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued conditional summons to the Delhi Chief Secretary, Delhi Police Commissioner and Union Home Secretary after they failed to send requisite reports on the impending release of the juvenile involved in the December 16, 2012 rape case and murder of 'Nirbhaya'.

The Commission has now asked them to submit the same by the December 21 or personally appear before it to explain the reasons.

It may be recalled that the Commission, after taking cognizance of a complaint from the parents of 'Nirbhaya', had issued a notice to these authorities on the November 20 calling for reports, within two weeks.

In its notice, the NHRC said that the Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi shall also inform whether any pre-release and post release plan as per Rule 17(3) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007 has been prepared in the case of the juvenile? If yes, copies of the same may be furnished to the Commission.

As per the notice, the Chief Secretary shall also furnish a copy of the discharge order, if any, issued under Rule 17(10) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007.

The Chief Secretary is also required to inform whether the juvenile has been recently subjected to psychological/psychiatric assessment for assessing his mental health.

In its notice, the NHRC said that the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government shall inform the action, if any, taken on the representation submitted by the complainants to the Home Minister.

The parents of 'Nirbhaya' had stated that the juvenile, who was largely responsible for the death of their daughter and was the most brutal amongst all the offenders, was supposed to be released sometime in December.

They had submitted that such persons are threat to the life and liberty of the common man. There should be a mechanism to keep a strict check on them so that people are not subjected to any risk of being harmed. The laws dealing with women and children should be strengthened. The complainants had also stated that the rate of recidivism (committing crimes again) is fairly high.

The complainants had requested the Commission to recommend to the Government to prepare a plan to protect the citizens from such delinquent juveniles post their release and also to strengthen the extant laws on the subject. The complainants had also cited the SORNA (Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act) which operates in countries such as USA, Canada and others. They had stated that similar law should be made operational in India.

The complainants had also made a representation to the Union Home Minister on the same subject. A copy of the representation was submitted to the Commission along with the complaint.

The Commission had observed that "there is no doubt that the complainants have undergone extreme agony and pain after the incident of rape and murder of their daughter. The fears expressed by them need to be looked into.