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New Delhi : Justice H L Dattu completed his tenure as the seventh Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India, on December 2, 2020. He had joined the Commission on February 29, 2016, after retiring as the Chief Justice of India on December 2, 2015. During his tenure, the Commission intervened in a number of cases of human rights violations, which brought succour to the victims of human rights violations. The Commission also brought down the number of cases, which were taking long to dispose of.
A total of 3,91,937 complaints of human rights violations were registered during Justice Dattu’s tenure of which 4,20,913 cases including some old and new cases, were disposed of. Rs 84,31,94,593 were paid in 268 cases as monetary relief by the public authorities as per the recommendations of the Commission.
The Commission, under Justice Dattu’s leadership, retained its “A” Status of Accreditation with the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, GANHRI. The Asia Pacific Forum (APF), in acknowledgement of the wide range of experience and expertise of the NHRC, India, has signed an AMU to share it with several NHRCs and like entities in the world. Justice Dattu also represented the NHRC as a member in the GANHRI Bureau and the Governance Committee of the APF.
The dialogue with the State Human Rights Commissions and other National Commissions gained strength for mutual cooperation on the matters of human rights. The State Governments responded to the NHRC’s requests by designating human rights courts at district levels.
The Commission expanded its outreach by linking its online complaints filing system with over 3 lakh Common Service Centres spread across the country. Justice Dattu also launched HRCNet portal to facilitate quick online communication between the NHRC and SHRCs to cut short the possibility of duplication of complaints and promote timely processing of complaints received online, according to an NHRC release.
During Justice Dattu’s tenure, the Commission also launched its Twitter Handle in 2020, which in a short span, saw a number of followers. He also launched the NHRC’s much popular annual short film competition on human rights in 2015. He also promoted building awareness about human rights through street theater.