The Parliament on Monday passed The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to expedite the process of appointment of chairperson and members of NHRC and States' rights bodies, with Home Minister Amit Shah allaying fears of the Opposition — which wanted it to be sent to a parliamentary panel — that the Government may influence the appointment to the panels.
Intervening in the debate in Rajya Sabha, Shah said the age limit for appointment to the panel has been reduced to fill the vacancies. The Bill, which was passed by Lok Sabha on Friday, provides for reduction in tenure of chairpersons of national and state human rights bodies to three years from the current five years.
It also stipulates that besides a former chief justice of India, as is the current requirement, a former Supreme Court judge can also become NHRC chairperson. "There has been apprehension that it will be government's committee ... Or members could be re-appointed after three years," Shah said and pointed out that there was panel for appointment.
If appointments are viewed with suspicion than any democratic body cannot function, he said. The Bill was passed by voice vote in Rajya Sabha, completing the parliamentary process.
Earlier, Opposition members in Rajya Sabha demanded that the bill be sent to a parliamentary panel for scrutiny. The MPs also claimed that they were not given enough time to move amendments.
Participating in the debate, Congress MP Vivek K Tankha expressed apprehension that the proposed changes in law would empower the government to handpick members. Tankha said the Government should have brought "functional amendments" in the existing law and not "cosmetic" ones.
He said if the bill was sent to select committee or standing committee of parliament, larger issues would have been addressed. Elmaram Kareem (CPI-M) too made a case for sending the bill to a select committee of Rajya Sabha. A similar demand was made K Ravindra Kumar (TDP).
Raising a point of order, Sukhendu Sekhar (TMC) said as per a rule (130), members should be given two working days to move amendments on a bill. In the case of the current bill, the House was informed about the passage of the bill only after 5 pm on Friday, he said and asked if the Rule 130 has been "disposed of".
Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also raised objection on the "procedure" being followed on the Bill.