Telangana High Court on Tuesday instructed the State government to apprise it by which date the government would appoint chairperson and members to the Telangana State Human Rights Commission (TSHRC).
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar passed this direction, expressing concern over the delay in filling up the key posts of the rights body. The bench was hearing a PIL petition filed by an advocate Adnan Mahmood seeking instruction to the government to fill up the posts of chairperson and members of the Commission which were lying vacant for over past 10 months.
Special Government Pleader Harender Pershad, presenting a communication sent by Chief Secretary (CS) of the State in the matter, sought four weeks of time to explain progress of the steps taken by the government. The CS’s communication stated that the government had already commenced the process of appointing chairperson and members to the Commission. Ten applications were received by the government for the post of chairperson.
While 10 persons applied for the post of Member (Judicial), 64 applied for the post of Member (Non-Judicial). The applications had to be screened and a final call had to be taken by the appointment committee, the CS stated. The committee comprises of the Chief Minister, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Leader of the Opposition party, Minister In-charge of Department of cooperation and the Home Minister.
The counsel for the petitioner, however, opposed the request of the SGP seeking four weeks of time. He contended that the rights body remained dysfunctional for the past 10 months and the government was still seeking time to revive it. By next date of hearing, the government would seek time citing the preparations for the ensuing Assembly elections or delimitation issues.
Responding to the request of the SGP for four weeks of time, the Chief Justice observed the possibility of human rights violation in the interregnum. Noting that State government should fix a time frame for making such appointments, the bench granted two weeks of time to the government to apprise the progress in filling up posts of the rights body.
