Assessment and Critique of the Role and Performance of the National Human Rights Commission in India

National Human Rights Commission of India has completed more than 25 years of its establishment. Since its formation on October 12, 1993, under the Protection of Human Rights Act, the Commission took upon itself the responsibility to monitor and protect human rights in India. Over the years under review, its role and efforts in dealing with human rights issues have been admirable. However, during the working of more than 25 years, flouting and ignoring of the Commission’s directions, recommendations, reviews and reports by the Governments and public functionaries has also been common which raises question marks on its autonomy, powers and jurisdiction conferred on it. The functions and powers of the Commission have also been a strife with various other limitations. Having this background in mind, the present paper discusses the working and performance of the NHRC in the area of the protection and promotion of human rights and further aims to examine critically the role played by it. The study would also point out areas that require immediate intervention to make NHRC a more effective body to accomplish the task assigned to it. The data for the present study has been taken from the Annual Reports of the NHRC and news, articles and journals published in the area of human rights.