Vijaya Bharathi Sayani Appointed Acting Chairperson of NHRC as Arun Mishra Steps Down

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 5th June. The Centre has appointed Vijaya Bharathi Sayani as the acting chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) following the conclusion of former Supreme Court judge Arun Mishra’s three-year tenure. The announcement, made on Monday, comes as Sayani, an advocate from the Telangana High Court and NHRC member since December 2023, steps into the role effective June 2, 2024.

“The President, under Section 7(1) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, is pleased to authorise Smt Vijaya Bharathi Sayani, Member, National Human Rights Commission, to act as the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, with effect from 02.06.2024, until the appointment of a new Chairperson in the NHRC to fill such vacancy,” stated a notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Sayani, an advocate practising before the Telangana High Court, was appointed as an NHRC member in December 2023. She has been noted for her work handling cases of women’s harassment and dowry, providing pro bono legal aid to those from economically weaker sections of society.

Justice Mishra, nine months after retiring from the Supreme Court, was appointed as the eighth chairperson of the NHRC in June 2021. The position had been vacant for nearly seven months before his appointment. In 2019, Parliament amended the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, to revise the eligibility criteria for the NHRC and state human rights commissions chairpersons. Previously, only a retired Chief Justice of India could be appointed as NHRC chairperson; the amended law allowed any Supreme Court judge to be considered for the position.

Notably, in February 2020, months before his retirement, Justice Mishra had praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an international judiciary conference, a remark that was condemned by the Supreme Court Bar Association.