PM-led panel meets to select new NHRC chair; Kharge, Rahul attend

A high-powered committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met here on Wednesday to select the next chairperson of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), sources said.

They also said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi attended the meeting as leaders of the opposition (LoPs) in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha respectively.

The sources said the two LoPs are likely to submit a dissent note on the selection process, as the names were not shared with them in advance.

The post of NHRC chairperson has been lying vacant since Justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra completed his tenure on June 1.

A former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mishra served as the eighth chairperson of the rights panel and was appointed to its top post in June 2021.

According to the law governing NHRC, while the committee which selects the NHRC chief is headed by the prime minister, it has the Lok Sabha Speaker, home minister, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha and deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha as its members.

Vijaya Bharathi Sayani, a member of the NHRC, became its acting chairperson after Justice Mishra demitted office.

A former chief justice of India or a retired judge of the top court are appointed as NHRC chairperson by the president on the recommendation of the selection committee.

Former CJIs H L Dattu and K G Balakrishnan are some of those who have headed the rights body in the past.