National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commission

The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (“the Act”) established a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and State Human Rights Commissions (SHRC) in India. The NHRC has been assigned a variety of responsibilities including inquiry into complaints of human rights violations, review safeguards provided by or under the Constitution or any law for the protection of human rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation, undertake and promote research in the field of human rights, spread human rights literacy and study treaties and other international instruments on human rights and make recommendations for their effective implementation. The SHRC’s are empowered to perform all those functions which have been entrusted to the NHRC. However Para C of Section 29 of the Act excludes the study of treaties and other international instruments on human rights from the purview of the SHRC’s as the “study” of such treaties has been made the exclusive domain of NHRC. The State Commission may inquire into violation of human rights only in respect of matters related to any of the entries enumerated in List II and III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution.