<p>In an interview to Karan Thapar in his Devil's Advocate programme, Verma said the continuance of the former CJI as NHRC chairperson affects its image internationally.<br />"He (Balakrishnan) should have demitted long back. If he does not do it voluntarily, the government should persuade him to do that," he said in response to a question on whether the NHRC chief should demit his office in wake of corruption allegations against him.<br />The Home Ministry has a few days back asked the Revenue Department to conduct a probe into the allegations of disproportionate assets against Balakrishnan.<br /><br />The missive came after it received a petition alleging that Balakrishnan had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and some of these properties were purchased in the name of his close relatives.<br /><br />Verma, who had also headed the NHRC earlier, said, "NHRC actually faced the flak recently when there was a threat to downgrade its stature."<br /><br />He also made a strong plea for constituting a National Judicial Commission (NJC) replacing the collegium system for appointing judges.<br /><br />"That (NJC) would act as a check no doubt and I think the time has come when more checks and balances are required," he said.</p>
<p>In an interview to Karan Thapar in his Devil's Advocate programme, Verma said the continuance of the former CJI as NHRC chairperson affects its image internationally.<br />"He (Balakrishnan) should have demitted long back. If he does not do it voluntarily, the government should persuade him to do that," he said in response to a question on whether the NHRC chief should demit his office in wake of corruption allegations against him.<br />The Home Ministry has a few days back asked the Revenue Department to conduct a probe into the allegations of disproportionate assets against Balakrishnan.<br /><br />The missive came after it received a petition alleging that Balakrishnan had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and some of these properties were purchased in the name of his close relatives.<br /><br />Verma, who had also headed the NHRC earlier, said, "NHRC actually faced the flak recently when there was a threat to downgrade its stature."<br /><br />He also made a strong plea for constituting a National Judicial Commission (NJC) replacing the collegium system for appointing judges.<br /><br />"That (NJC) would act as a check no doubt and I think the time has come when more checks and balances are required," he said.</p>