Sathasivam likely to be next chairman of NHRC

Kerala Governor P Sathasivam is understood to have given his consent to the Centre to be considered for appointment as the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) when its present chief K G Balakrishnan completes his term in June.

A former Chief Justice of India (CJI), Sathasivam was appointed Governor of Kerala following the resignation of Shiela Dikshit in September last year. However, with Balakrishnan’s five-year term due to end on June 6, the search for his successor has led to the Centre seeking to know Sathasivam’s mind in this regard, highly placed sources said.

The post of NHRC chairman has always been held by a former Chief Justice of India since the panel was set up in 1993. Prior to Balakrishnan, other CJIs who graced the post include Ranganath Misra (1993-96), M Venkatachaliah (1996-99), J S Verma (1999-2003),
A S Anand (2003-2006) and S Rajendra Babu (2007 to 2009). When approached, Sathasivam apparently evinced interest in playing a more active role like that of the NHRC chairman, which would involve his vast experience as a judge compared to a rather ceremonial role in Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram, the sources said.

On March 15, Sathasivam broke the tradition and expressed concerns over the disruptive behaviour of legislators in the Kerala Assembly when the state budget was presented. His office even issued a press note saying that the ugly nature of the events justified invoking Article 356 and reporting as such to the President. Under this Article, the President can dismiss a state government or dissolve a State Assembly or keep it under suspended animation in the event of a failure of the constitutional machinery in that state.

This was after the Legislature Secretary had informed him about how the Speaker’s chair was forcibly wheeled away and thrown into the well of the House and his public address system destroyed.

The ruling United Democratic Front, including Finance Minister K M Mani, had disapproved mention of Article 356. But the Opposition Left Democratic Front has welcomed it, saying their stand has been validated.

Interestingly, Sathasivam was appointed Governor of Kerala in the middle of a raging debate over whether such political appointments will compromise judicial independence. This was for the first time a retired CJI was appointed to serve as a governor of a state.