The Karnataka government’s decision to constitute the State Human Rights Commission with the retired chief justice of Chattisgarh, Justice R S Naik, as its chairman will be welcomed whole-heartedly by every right-thinking person, including civil rights groups and activists, as it has been pending for a number of years. Though Parliament passed the enabling legislation in 1993 and all the state governments were asked to set up commissions at the state level, Karnataka has been one of the laggards and has dragged its feet on the issue. Upset with the lethargic attitude on the part of the authorities concerned,  the Supreme Court some time ago had issued a direction to the high courts to form human rights committees to take up complaints. In Karnataka, a notification for setting up the commission was issued two years ago raising hopes, but it remained in limbo as the government failed to appoint the chairman and members. Now with the appointment of Justice Naik, an eminent jurist, as chairman, and a retired district judge, Justice R S Reddy, and a retired IAS officer B Parthasarathy as members, the commission will hopefully start functioning in right earnest.
With Karnataka ranking high in custodial deaths and fake encounters -- especially with the rise of Naxalism in some parts of the state -- and the problems of bonded labour and child labour still very much rampant, the commission will have its hands full in the days to come. As the victims of police atrocities are mainly the poor and the powerless, the commission will be expected to come to their rescue, while putting the law enforcement authorities on a firm leash. A section of the political class has argued that an intrusive human rights body would have a demoralising effect on the police force, which might ultimately tell on the maintenance of law and order in society.
But such apprehensions are unfounded as ordinary people normally live in fear of the authorities who have all the powers and who need to be restrained from going overboard. As the protection of human rights of every individual is imperative in a democracy, the crude show of force or “dispensation of justice” through such barbaric methods as custodial deaths or police encounters is completely unacceptable in a modern society. The commission will hopefully quickly set the benchmark for fair and just treatment of every human rights issue in the state.