BENGAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION NEARLY DEFUNCT AS CHAIRPERSON RETIRES

In the past five years the West Bengal government has accepted just one recommendation submitted by the State Human Rights Commission. Some more recommendations were made but were not acknowledged. Justice Girish Chandra Gupta told The Daily Guardian this in an exclusive chat. There is also the problem of the commission having an acting chairman without any legal background, as Justice Gupta retires as the chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission on Monday.

The commission is supposed to have its own investigation team, which it does not. Moreover, the commission can have a maximum of five members but at present it has only two members, and with the retirement of Justice Gupta, the commission will be left with only one member—Naparajit Mukherjee, who is a retired IPS officer. The Mamata Banerjee government wants Naparajit Mukherjee appointed as the acting chairman. Justice Gupta, in a letter dated 13 December, had written to Mamata Banerjee complaining about the state of things as well as saying that he was being obstructed from working.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar raised this issue on Sunday, when he tweeted, “Governor Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has expressed concern at dithering stance @MamataOfficial over appointment of Chairman State Human Rights Commission.” “Governor awaits response @MamataOfficial on timeframe for recommendation for appointment of Chairman. Why pitch for sole Member to be Acting Chairman? Outgoing Chairman who labelled commission being ‘on ventilator in ICU’ has laid bare situation in his Dec 13 communication,” he added, by quoting from Justice Gupta’s letter.

“Unprecedented post poll violence calls for measures @MamataOfficial so that there is uplift on this count and democratic values blossom. An effective and functional State Human Rights Commission is mandate of law. High time due focus on this aspect is bestowed,” the Governor tweeted.

The appointment of Naparajit Mukherjee has stirred a controversy as according to the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the state commission shall consist of a chairperson who has been a chief justice, or a judge of a high court; while one member will be a former judge of a high court or a district judge in the state. Mukherjee does not have a judicial background.

With the commission more or less defunct, questions are being raised about investigation into cases of post poll violence in the state. “It [the situation of human rights] has been dark for a long time, the situation has not changed much,” Gupta told The Daily Guardian.