Which one among the following is not under the jurisdiction of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993?
- (a)The National Human Rights Commission
- (b)The State Human Rights Commission
- (c)The Human Rights Courts
- (d)The Human Rights Council
Correct — D, The Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations, made up of 47 member States, created by the UN General Assembly in 2006 and meeting at the United Nations Office at Geneva. It is set up by a resolution of the General Assembly, not by any Indian statute, so no Act of the Indian Parliament could bring it within its jurisdiction. The other three are all creatures of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 itself — the Act gives the National Human Rights Commission its statutory basis, allows a State Government to constitute a State Human Rights Commission, and provides for Human Rights Courts, a Court of Session designated in each district to try offences arising out of human rights violations.
- (a)The National Human Rights Commission — The NHRC is the central body the Act creates; it is a statutory commission owing its existence to this very statute.
- (b)The State Human Rights Commission — The same Act allows a State Government to constitute a Human Rights Commission for that State, with powers and functions assigned under the Act.
- (c)The Human Rights Courts — The Act provides for Human Rights Courts — a Court of Session designated in each district for the speedy trial of offences arising out of human rights violations.
The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 built a three-tier domestic machinery — a National Human Rights Commission at the centre, State Human Rights Commissions that a State Government may constitute, and Human Rights Courts at the district level. All three are statutory bodies, created by ordinary law rather than by the Constitution, which is why the NHRC is not a constitutional body. The UN Human Rights Council belongs to an entirely different order: it is an organ of international, not Indian, machinery.
The item is a domestic-versus-international sorting exercise dressed up as a legal question. Three of the options share the vocabulary of the Act — commission, state commission, court — while the fourth uses the word 'Council', which in this field almost always signals a United Nations body. When an exception question lists three items that share a naming pattern and one that does not, the odd one out is usually the answer. As of the 2024 exam, and still today, India is a member State of the UN system and appears before the Human Rights Council through the Universal Periodic Review, but that engagement runs through international law and not through the 1993 Act.
- The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system, composed of 47 Member States and meeting at the United Nations Office at Geneva.
- It was established in 2006 by the UN General Assembly.
- The National Human Rights Commission was given its statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
- Under the same Act a State Government may constitute a Human Rights Commission for that State, and Human Rights Courts are provided for at the district level.
Three domestic institutions created by one Act, and one international body that no Indian law creates.
- Reading Council as if it were another Indian body because the other three options are Indian.
- Assuming the NHRC is a constitutional body; it is statutory, unlike the Election Commission or the National Commission for Backward Classes.
- Overlooking Human Rights Courts, which are less discussed than the commissions but are squarely provided for by the Act.
Asked as an exception item — three institutions created by one statute, and one that belongs to a different legal order altogether.
Consider the following organizations/bodies in India: 1. The National Commission for Backward Classes 2. The National Human Rights Commission 3. The National Law Commission 4. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission How many of the above are constitutional bodies?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) Only three
- (d) All four
Answer(a) Only one
The same commission, classified. It states plainly that the National Human Rights Commission is a statutory body under the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 — which is the point this CDS item builds on when it asks what else that Act reaches.
Which one among the following commissions was set up in pursuance of a definite provision under an Article of the Constitution of India?
- (a) University Grants Commission
- (b) National Human Rights Commission
- (c) Election Commission
- (d) Central Vigilance Commission
Answer(c) Election Commission
The same distinction from the other side. The NHRC is rejected there precisely because no Article of the Constitution creates it — it exists only because Parliament passed the 1993 Act, which is why that Act defines the whole set of bodies in this CDS question.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The National Human Rights Commission of India is best described as
- (a)a constitutional body
- (b)a statutory body
- (c)a body created by executive resolution
- (d)an organ of the United Nations
Answer(b) a statutory body — it owes its existence to the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, not to any Article of the Constitution.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The United Nations Human Rights Council has its seat at
- (a)New York
- (b)Geneva
- (c)The Hague
- (d)Vienna
Answer(b) Geneva — it meets at the United Nations Office at Geneva and has 47 member States.