{"id":3515,"date":"2026-08-11T22:11:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/national-human-rights-commission\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T23:01:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:31:39","slug":"national-human-rights-commission","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/national-human-rights-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"National Human Rights Commission"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"n-wrap\">\n<div class=\"n-shell\">\n<div class=\"n-crumb\"><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/\">PSIR Notes<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/#i-b\">I-B Indian Government and Politics<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><span>National Human Rights Commission<\/span><\/div>\n<header class=\"n-head\">\n<div class=\"n-eyebrow\">Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Politics<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"n-title\">National Human Rights Commission<\/h1>\n<div class=\"n-syl\"><b>Syllabus \u00b7 Paper I-B \u00b7 6<\/b> \u2014 Statutory Institutions\/Commissions : Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Finance Commission, Union Public Service Commission, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Women; <span class=\"cur\">National Human Rights Commission<\/span>, National Commission for Minorities, National Backward Classes Commission.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"n-grid\">\n  <main class=\"n-body\"><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"national-human-rights-commission\">National Human Rights Commission<\/h3>\n<p><em><span class=\"n-law\">PHR Act, 1993<\/span> \u00b7 the rights watchdog and its limits<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Established <span class=\"n-term\">12 October 1993<\/span> under the <span class=\"n-term\">Protection of <span class=\"n-law\">Human Rights Act, 1993<\/span><\/span>, which defines human rights as rights to life, liberty, equality and dignity guaranteed by the Constitution or in international covenants and enforceable by Indian courts. Built on the UN\u2019s <span class=\"n-term\">Paris Principles<\/span> (UN Commission on Human Rights 1992; UN General Assembly 1993) and reinforced by the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p><em>To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><cite>Nelson Mandela<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"n-sch\">Gautam Bhatia:<\/span> the National and State Human Rights Commissions are examples of what we now call <span class=\"n-term\">fourth branch institutions<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Composition (after 2019 amendment)<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Chairperson: former CJI or SC judge;<\/li>\n<li>judicial &amp; human-rights expert members; <span class=\"n-term\">one woman<\/span> member;<\/li>\n<li>ex-officio: chairs of NCM, NCSC, NCST, NCW, NCBC, NCPCR &amp; the Chief Commissioner for PwD.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Selection committee: PM, LS Speaker, Home Minister, LoP (both Houses), RS Deputy Chairman. Term cut to 3 years \/ age 70.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Functions (Section 12)<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>inquire \u2014 suo motu, on petition, on court direction;<\/li>\n<li>negligence by public servants; intervene in court (with permission);<\/li>\n<li>visit prisons &amp; detention institutions;<\/li>\n<li>review safeguards; study treaties; promote research, literacy, NGOs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-lab\">Custodial justice spine<\/span>: report custodial deaths within 24 hours \u00b7 video-record post-mortems \u00b7 Human Rights Cells in police HQ \u00b7 prison-reform recommendations. Interventions: Nandigram, Salwa Judum, Chakma refugees, Punjab mass cremations, mental-health institutions. International: helped found the <span class=\"n-term\">Asia-Pacific Forum of NHRIs<\/span> (1996); \u201cA\u201d-status (with accreditation concerns). <span class=\"n-sch\">Virendra Dayal<\/span>: the NHRC has strengthened democracy against police brutality, violence on women &amp; children, discrimination and corruption.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">The critique gallery \u2014 the heart of any NHRC answer<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p><em>[The NHRC is] the biggest post office in India.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><cite>Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p><em>TEASING ILLUSION.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><cite>Soli Sorabjee<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p><em>If powers are given through an amendment, the NHRC will certainly become a Toothful Tiger.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><cite>H.L. Dattu<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"n-sch\">Rajeev Dhavan<\/span> \u2014 \u201ca mere showpiece\u201d with a stance \u201cfar too grandiose\u201d for its resources. <span class=\"n-sch\">Upendra Baxi<\/span> \u2014 a \u201ctoothless tiger\u201d working within the \u201cgrammar of governance.\u201d <span class=\"n-sch\">Sarah Thanawala<\/span> &amp; <span class=\"n-sch\">Mathew Jacob<\/span> fault its silence on CAA-NRC, Kashmir and migrant-labour distress.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-lab\">Limitations<\/span>: non-binding recommendations \u00b7 no enforcement \u00b7 financial\/administrative dependence \u00b7 one-year limitation bar \u00b7 restricted jurisdiction over the <span class=\"n-term\">armed forces (Sec. 19)<\/span> \u00b7 weak in internal-security cases \u00b7 post-retirement platform. <span class=\"n-term\">Reforms<\/span> (<span class=\"n-sch\">J.S. Verma<\/span> wanted it a \u201cconscience keeper of the nation\u201d; <span class=\"n-sch\">Mandeep Tiwana<\/span> \u2014 powers against false departmental reports): make recommendations enforceable in serious cases, allow interim relief, widen armed-forces jurisdiction, independent investigation cadre, relax the one-year bar.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">UPSC 2010<\/span> \u00b7 <span class=\"n-term\">UPSC 2016 \u00b7 15m<\/span> \u00b7 <span class=\"n-term\">UPSC 2025 \u00b7 10m<\/span> \u2014 effectiveness in redressal \u00b7 objective &amp; role \u00b7 how far successful in its objectives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"n-next\"><a href=\"\/psir\/notes\/national-commission-for-women\/\"><em>Previous<\/em><b>National Commission for Women<\/b><\/a><a class=\"r\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/national-commission-for-minorities\/\"><em>Next<\/em><b>National Commission for Minorities<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<aside class=\"n-rail\">\n<h4>On this page<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"#national-human-rights-commission\">National Human Rights Commission<\/a><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Human Rights Commission for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a I-B Indian Government and Politics \u203a National Human Rights Commission Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Pol<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"fx_note_key":"I-B.6.8","fx_note_sec":"I-B","fx_note_point":"6","fx_note_desc":"National Human Rights Commission for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a I-B Indian Government and Politics \u203a National Human Rights Commission Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Pol","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3515","psir_note","type-psir_note","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_note"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3708,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3515\/revisions\/3708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}