http://JUDIS.NIC.IN

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

Page 1 of 7

CASE NO.:

Writ Petition (civil) 105 of 2004

PETITIONER:

People’s Union for Civil Liberties

RESPONDENT:

Union of India & Anr.

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 29/04/2005

BENCH:

S.B. Sinha, N. Santosh Hegde & B.P. Singh

JUDGMENT:

J U D G M E N T

SANTOSH HEGDE, J.

In this writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution

of India, the petitioner is challenging a decision of the first

respondent Union of India appointing the respondent No.2 as a

member of the National Human Rights Commission (the

Commission). The primary basis of the challenge to his

appointment is on the ground that prior to the impugned

appointment the second respondent was holding the post of

Director, Central Bureau of Investigation and was also holding the

post of Vice-President (Asia) Interpol. According to the petitioner,

the appointment of a person who served in the police force as a

Member of the N.H.R.C. is contrary to the provisions of the

Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, (the Act), apart from being

opposed to the very aims and objects for which the said

Commission was constituted. The petitioner urges that such

appointment