‘Govt wasn’t keen to appoint Uma Nath as chairperson’
SHILLONG: There is an undue delay on the part of the state government to appoint a chairperson for the State Human Rights Commission. This, despite the fact that the Supreme Court had in December last, directed the formation of the rights panel at the earliest.
While Delhi government on Saturday formed its State Human Rights Commission with the appointment of former Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court Uma Nath Singh as the Chairperson, the Meghalaya Government is still lamenting over the non-availability of a retired Chief Justice to head the panel in the state.
Despite its search for a retired Chief Justice, sources said that the state government did not seek the opinion of Singh on whether he was willing to hold the post of Chairperson of Meghalaya Human Rights Commission.
According to sources, the former Meghalaya Chief Justice known for his several crucial orders concerning the issues confronting the state was not a preferred choice of the state government as it feared harsh actions once he is appointed as the head of the rights panel.
Earlier, the High Court of Meghalaya had pulled up the Chief Secretary to file an affidavit regarding the delay on the part of the state government in forming the panel.
An official source said on Sunday that since the government did not get any Chairperson to head the panel, it is finding it difficult to form the panel.
The official added that earlier, the state government had made several attempts to get any retired Chief Justice to head the panel, but in vain.
“The search is still on by the concerned department to get a Chairperson to head the panel,” the official source added.
Sources, however, pointed out that there are many retired Chief Justices including those from Jharkhand (Bhagwati Prasad) and Jammu and Kashmir (B A Khan) whose names had figured along with retired Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court Uma Nath Singh for the selection for the rights panel in Delhi.
Earlier, the state government had appointed former judge of the lower court, M.B. Challam and former Meghalaya DGP, P.J.P. Hanaman as two members of the Commission. However, they could not function in the absence of the Chairperson.
In a flip-flop, the political department had last year informed Challam that she would not be eligible as a member since she had served as the District and Sessions Judge only for four years, while the criteria is seven years. This has become another hurdle for the formation of the Commission
It was on August 13, 2013 that the state cabinet gave nod to the formation of the Commission.
Later in March, 2014, the Assembly passed the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (Salaries and Allowances and other Terms and Conditions of Service of the Members) Rules, 2014.