The NHRC is now known for dismissing a majority of human rights cases and grievances or referring them to State bodies. At the same time, there are poor or negligent enforcement of NHRC’s orders by police officials and district administrations. NHRC is missing in action wherever the common Indians need it the most. It’s functioning is patterned on the RSS Pariwar union government and its ruled State governments, exclusionary, divisive, communal, partisan and discriminatory with rampant violations of human rights of minorities, Dalit, tribal, women, poor and the neglected.

Current NHRC shows only scant interest in investigating violations of human rights except in opposition rules States where it sends fact-finding team for investigations. NHRC has lost its moral authority by not condemning the extensive violence in Manipur, where more than 180 people have been killed and thousands fled their homes, now residing in camps in very miserable conditions. Modesty of multiple women was outraged and they were insulted, killed and abused publicly by mobs of lawless goons. It is learnt that NHRC had a full commission meeting on Manipur on May 23, 2023. But it is yet to announce what it decided. Till date, minutes of the meeting are withheld. It was only after an order on July 21, 2023 by the Supreme Court directing the union government and the state government to act on the Constitutional abuses that the NHRC woke up and issued a notice to the Manipur government on July 25, 2023 to stop the violence and violations of human rights in the state. It was shocking to find that even the Supreme Court did not think of the NHRC as credible and independent enough organization to be entrusted with any action that it proposed in Manipur. The best would have been that NHRC could have appeared before the Supreme Court but it did not.

NHRC is silent over FIRs against the National Federation of Indian women represented by two distinguished women of repute Aruna Roy and Annie Raja, facing police cases and false drummed up criminal charges. Manipur Government has now filed a police case against the three-member team of the Editors Guild of India (EGI). NHRC is still silent. Further more, NHRC’s penchant for involving the police for investigation of cases, its unwillingness to review the laws related to civil liberties and fundamental rights including the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, and its lack of constructive engagement and cooperation with civil society and human resource development groups are the other concerns raised by international bodies, to the discomforts of the countrymen/women.

NHRC has collapsed. Human rights violations are reported in media/social media everyday and regularly. It is hard to recall when the NHRC made a meaningful intervention to make a difference in the lives of ordinary Indians. NHRC under the current leadership has disappointed the people with its overall functioning. Under the watch of Justice Mishra, NHRC’s indifference to human rights is becoming clearer to all people. It is noteworthy that NHRC’s accreditation to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) was deferred by a year in March 2023, on account of its failure to provide for the involvement of civil society organisations, its lack of pluralistic balance in its composition and its staff, its failure to reflect diversity of the Indian society including representation of religious and ethnic minorities.

A two-day conference of Asia Pacific Forum would be hosted by NHRC on September 20-21, 2023, to which Colombo based South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a democratic regional body, has protested and said, it is “outraged to learn that the Asia Pacific Forum has allowed NHRC of India to host its next conference in New Delhi”, to be inaugurated by the PM. In a statement SAHR said, “on behalf of the civil society members of the South Asians region, committed to the promotion and protection of human rights at the national and regional level, SAHR perceives that this decision of the Asia Pacific Forum will defeat the purpose as well as the past and future achievements it has so far been working for”.

India’s NHRC had its shining glory when it took suo motto cognizance of the culprits of 2002 Gujarat riots, sensing the victims would not get justice with the entire official machinery including state judiciary having ganged up to thwart justice for the victims and approached the Supreme Court of India seeking transfer of lead cases outside Gujarat. As a result, the Apex Court transferred such cases to Maharashtra.

NHRC was set up in October 1993 in terms of the Human Rights Act, 1993 to safeguard and protect human rights of people of India, punish the violators, compensate the victims, take the officials to tasks to ensure the fundamental rights to life, liberty, personal dignity, individual honour, with equality before law, equality in opportunities, equality in employment opportunities, without any discrimination of caste, creed, religion and sexes with attendant justice, equality and fair-play for all citizens, without fear or favour are available, equally and alike. NHRC was constituted in terms of the UN’s Paris Principles to which India is signatory, to promote, protect and safeguard human rights of people worldwide. Whether NHRC has achieved its goal ia for the people to see for themselves!