The Telangana High Court has directed the State government to inform the court by a specific date about the appointment of the chairperson and members to the Human Rights Commission. The commission has been dysfunctional since December 22 due to the lack of appointments. This direction was given during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Adnan Mahmood, who requested the government to fill the vacant posts according to the Protection of Human Rights Act.
The court took note of a communication from the State Chief Secretary, which stated that the government has started the process of appointing the chairperson and members. Four applications have been received for the chairperson position, while 10 and 64 applications have been received for the positions of member (judicial) and member (non-judicial) respectively. These applications need to be screened, and a decision will be made by a committee consisting of several government officials.
The State government requested four weeks’ time to update the court on the status of the appointments, but the petitioner’s counsel opposed this request. The counsel highlighted that the HRC positions have been vacant for ten months already and expressed concerns about further delays due to factors like the election code and ongoing delimitation works. The Chief Justice shared these concerns and emphasized the importance of fixing a time frame for such appointments.
In response, the court granted the State government two weeks’ time to provide an update on the latest developments regarding the appointments.
