A crucial decision of the Centre to appoint an active politician as Member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) came under scrutiny in the Supreme Court after a PIl alleged that the person’s political credentials were suppressed before the Selection Committee headed by the Prime Minister.
The Bench of Justices PC Ghose and UU lalit issued notice on the PIl filed by a public spirited person Anupriya Nagori, after it was stated that never before in the history of the NHRC has a politician been appointed to NHRC. Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said, “What are we heading to if such a man who is vice-president of a political party and a former Member of Parliament is appointed as Member of NHRC.” The person in question was Avinash Rai Khanna, who was the BJP in-charge of Jammu & Kashmir and was Rajya
Sabha MP from March 2010 - April 2016.
In the petition, filed by advocate Devdutt Kamat, it was also stated that besides his political background not being disclosed to the High Powered Selection Committee that met on October 17, 2016, the recommendation suffered from a legal flaw as Khanna had served a ten-month stint as Member of Punjab State Human Rights Commission.