Rights activist Sitakanta Tripathy has urged the State Government to fill up the vacant Chairman post of Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) soon.
Tripathy said he has written letters to the Chief Minister, law Minister, leader of Opposition and the Assembly Speaker to this effect. He suggested that Supreme Court Justice AK Patnaik would be the right person to head the Commission for now.
Informing that the post has been lying vacant since Justice RK Patra retired on November 23, 2012, he said the objectives behind setting up the rights body is not being realized due to the vacancy. According to Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the Chairperson must be at least a Chief Justice of a High Court, he said.
Stating that the OHRC has never been headed by a SC Judge, Tripathy requested the Government to take consent of Justice Patnaik for the purpose. Justice Patnaik is scheduled to retire in May this year, he informed.