Consider the following statements regarding Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission : (i) Commission has one chairperson and four members in accordance with the provisions of The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006. (ii) At present, Justice Gopal Krishna Vyas is its chairperson.

Correct — option (3), Only (ii) is correct.

Statement (i) is wrong. The Commission's own website says the State Government's notification of 18 January 1999 constituted it with one full-time Chairperson and 4 Members under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

The same page then says the Commission has "one Chairperson and 2 Members in accordance with the provisions of The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006." Four members belongs to the 1993 Act, not the 2006 amendment.

Statement (ii) is correct for 1 October 2023. The Commission's annual reports for 2022-23 and 2023-24 list Justice G.K. Vyas as Chairperson from 25 January 2021, with his tenure shown as continuing. The 2023-24 report's preface is signed by Gopal Krishna Vyas as Chairperson.

With (i) wrong and (ii) right, the code is option (3), Only (ii) is correct.

The idea to remember: four members under the 1993 Act, two under the 2006 amendment.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Neither (i) nor (ii) is correct. — Statement (i) is wrong, but this also rejects statement (ii), which is right. The 2023-24 annual report lists Justice G.K. Vyas as Chairperson from 25 January 2021, still in office.

  The same report shows two Members as continuing, Mahesh Goyal and Justice Ramchandra Singh Jhala, which matches the two-member strength of the 2006 amendment.

• (2)
  Both (i) and (ii) are correct. — Statement (ii) holds, but statement (i) does not. One Chairperson and 4 Members was the Commission's strength under the 1999 notification made under the 1993 Act.

  The Commission's website gives one Chairperson and 2 Members under the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006.

• (4)
  Only (i) is correct. — This reverses the answer. Statement (i) attaches the 1993 Act's four-member composition to the 2006 amendment, which the Commission's website says gives two Members.

  Statement (ii) is the correct one: Justice G.K. Vyas was Chairperson from 25 January 2021, shown as continuing in the 2023-24 annual report.

The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, a central law, provides for a National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commissions. The Rajasthan Commission's website describes its mandate as a watchdog for human rights in the State.

The Act has changed the size and eligibility rules more than once. The Commission's website gives one Chairperson and four Members under the 1993 Act, and one Chairperson and two Members under the 2006 amendment.

PRS Legislative Research's summary of the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019, passed by both Houses in July 2019, says it opened a State Commission's chair to a former Judge, not only a former Chief Justice, of a High Court.

The website names the Commission's own investigating agency, headed by a police officer not below Inspector General.

Key facts

• The State Government's notification of 18 January 1999 constituted the Commission with one full-time Chairperson and 4 Members under the 1993 Act.
• The Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission became functional from March 2000, according to its website.
• Under the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006, the Commission has one Chairperson and 2 Members, according to its website.
• Justice G.K. Vyas became Chairperson on 25 January 2021 and was in office on 1 October 2023; the 2022-23 and 2023-24 annual reports show him as continuing.
• The 2023-24 annual report shows two Members as continuing: Mahesh Goyal (from 25 January 2021) and Justice Ramchandra Singh Jhala (from 16 January 2023).

Common traps

• Attaching the 1993 composition to the 2006 amendment: four Members came with the 1999 notification under the 1993 Act; the 2006 amendment gives two.
• Counting acting chairpersons as full ones: the list in the Commission's annual reports marks several, such as Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma from 5 December 2019 to 24 January 2021, as acting.
• Applying the old eligibility rule: PRS's summary of the 2019 Bill says a former High Court Judge, not only a former Chief Justice, can chair a State Commission.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission, it has one Chairperson and two Members in accordance with the provisions of

  • (a)the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993
  • (b)the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006
  • (c)the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission Regulations, 2001
  • (d)the notification of the Government of Rajasthan dated 18 January 1999
  Answer(2) — The Commission's website ties the two-member strength to the 2006 Amendment Act. Options (1) and (4) are the law and the notification under which it began with four Members; option (3) is the Commission's own regulations, not the source of its composition.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Who was the first Chairperson of the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission?

  • (a)Justice Kanta Bhatnagar
  • (b)Justice N.K. Jain
  • (c)Justice S. Sageer Ahmed
  • (d)Justice Prakash Tatia
  Answer(1) — The Commission's list shows Justice Kanta Bhatnagar from 23 March 2000. Option (3) followed from 16 February 2001, option (2) from 16 July 2005, and option (4) from 11 March 2016.