Justice Cyriac Joseph, whose appointment as NHRC member was objected to by Leaders of Opposition in Parliament, today assumed office in his new capacity.
Justice Joseph's appointment was cleared by President Pranab Mukherjee on May 18.
His appointment was opposed by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley.
In the meeting of the selection committee, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Swaraj and Jaitley gave written reasons for opposing Joseph's name and walked out of the meeting.
Both the BJP leaders reportedly cited an intelligence report against Joseph to demand that another person be chosen in his place to the post of member of the National Human Rights Commission.
Prior to his appointment in NHRC, 66-year-old Joseph was a Judge in the Supreme Court from July 2008 to January 2012.
