The National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) was formally informed late last week that the deferral of its status would continue for a year more. The deferral was put in place by the sub-committee on accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) for a year, in 2023. While the SCA did not agree with the plea of some leading international non-governmental organisations, to put the NHRC in category ‘B’, it also rejected India’s request to lift the deferral.
The NHRC chairperson, a former Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice Arun Mishra, and the government may have been unhappy with the continuing deferral but are sure to be relieved that they have avoided the ignominy of a downgrade. The NHRC, directly and, the government, from behind the scenes, had lobbied hard for the deferral to be removed and the cloud over India’s ‘A’ status goes away. Justice Mishra retires in early June and, if the new government to be formed in June after the general election 2024 does not reappoint him, he will be the first NHRC chairman to leave the organisation with the sword of Damocles hanging over its head. This would only strengthen the initial doubts raised about his appointment.
