BJP, government spar over NHRC member

The government and the BJP are at loggerheads yet again over the proposed appointment of retired Supreme Court judge Justice Cyriac Joseph to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The government and the BJP are at loggerheads yet again over the proposed appointment of retired Supreme Court judge Justice Cyriac Joseph to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

HT Image

Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses of Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley submittted dissent notes against him at a meeting of a selection panel for the post. However, the government is believed to be inclined to go ahead with his name.

“There are questions about his impartiality and track record. Yet, the government brought his name as it doesn’t want consensus,” Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told HT.

Sources said the BJP leaders cited an intelligence report against him, demanding that someone else by chosen. Joseph had earlier been rejected for the post of Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) chief on the basis of the same intelligence report.

The BJP had earlier opposed the proposal to make former National Investigation Agency chief SC Sinha National Human Rights Commission member — on the ground that those manning investigative agencies would lose partiality if they expected post-retirement benefits — but the government had appointed him.