Retired Supreme Court judge V Ramasubramanian was on Monday appointed the new chairman of the National Human Rights Commission or NHRC, the nodal body which can inquire into violations of human rights by government or a public servant.

The post of NHRC chairperson had been lying vacant since former Supreme Court Justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra completed his tenure on June 1. Vijaya Bharathi Sayani, a member of the NHRC, became its acting chairperson after Justice Mishra retired.

A former chief justice of India or a retired judge of the Supreme Court are appointed as NHRC chairperson by the President on the recommendation of the selection committee. Former CJIs HL Dattu and KG Balakrishnan have been at the helm of the rights body in the past. 

Former chief justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday said media reports of him being considered for the National Human Rights Commission chairperson’s post were “untrue”.

On December 18, a high-powered committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to select the next chairperson of NHRC. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi attended the meeting as leaders of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, respectively.

New Delhi:

Dismissing reports of him being considered for the post of the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has said rumours are being spread and that he is enjoying his retired life as a private citizen. 

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been without a full-time chairperson since former Supreme Court judge Justice Arun Kumar Mishra finished his tenure on June 1. A high-level committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also comprising Home Minister Amit Shah and the Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge,  had met on Wednesday to consider names for the new chief of the panel.

When Justice Chandrachud was asked about reports claiming that he was in contention for the post, he told NDTV: “It is just a rumour. Nobody has spoken to me about this and I am loving my life as a private citizen. I am enjoying my retired life.”

Justice Chandrachud, who was the 50th Chief Justice of India, demitted office on November 10. During his two-year tenure as the Chief Justice, he headed the Constitution bench which upheld the scrapping of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and also led the bench which ordered the dismantling of the electoral bonds scheme. 

The NHRC, which is headed by a former Chief Justice of India or a retired Supreme Court judge, currently has one of its members, Vijaya Bharathi Sayani, serving as the acting chairperson. 

Former Chief Justice HL Dattu was appointed the chairperson of the panel in 2016 and former Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan also served as its head between 2010 and 2016.