Guwahati: Complying with the previous order of Gauhati HC, the Mizoram govt informed the court that it has set up the state human rights commission with its headquarters in Aizawl. However, the building allotment to the new establishment and the appointment of the chairperson and members are in process.
The court of Justice Nelson Sailo and Justice Marli Vankung was hearing a PIL last week filed by Zofa Welfare Organization (ZWO) with a prayer to issue directions to the Mizoram govt to set up the state human rights commission as per the provisions of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. The petition was filed in 2021.
During the last hearing in September, the court gave the Mizoram govt two months as a last opportunity to set up the commission, which the state did not establish despite the Supreme Court's directions, and warned to initiate contempt proceedings if it failed to do so.
Government advocate H Lalmalsawmi informed the court that the previous order of the court to constitute the human rights commission was complied with. The court noted that the notifications of the govt, which the advocate produced before the court, show that the Mizoram State Human Rights Commission was constituted by the state govt under the provisions of Section 21(4) & (1) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, with its headquarters at Aizawl and 16 posts, including the Chairperson and two members, were created for the new establishment.
Lalmalsawmi submitted before the court that the appointment of suitable persons as chairperson and members of the commission, as well as building allocation for the new establishment, are in process and it will take some time.
After hearing the parties, the court stated, “We have noticed that some positive steps have been taken by the state govt in furtherance of the establishment of the Human Rights Commission in the state. However, it goes without saying that the state govt will have to take further steps to establish the Commission by appointing suitable persons as its Chairperson and members, apart from filling up the posts which have been created so that the Commission can be set in motion.”
The court adjourned the matter for eight weeks.
The SC, in its judgment passed in 2015 in “Dilip K Basu Vs State of West Bengal & Others,” directed Delhi, Himachal, Mizoram, Arunachal , Meghalaya, Tripura, and Nagaland to set up Human Rights Commissions for their respective territories.