Former Supreme Court of India Honorable Judge Justice Shri V Ramasubramanian has been named to the prestigious post of chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). A high-powered committee led by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, selected the Hon’ble retired judge after a discussion in a meeting. Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi and the former chairman of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) have been freshly appointed as its members according to the constitution of NHRC
Human Rights ingrained India’s roots
The office of the chairperson of NHRC had been lying vacant since June 1, 2024, when the retired judge, Justice Arun Kumar Mishra, completed his tenure. At the ceremony, Justice Shri V. Ramasubramanian, in his speech, discussed how India since ancient times has always valued and practiced human rights, much before the concept had been globally recognised as necessary. While citing the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, he deeply elaborated upon human rights being deeply embedded in India’s cultural fabric. He also emphasized upon the fact that promoting and protecting human rights requires a collaborative effort among various stakeholders.
Justice V. Ramasubramanian, a distinguished former judge of the Supreme Court of India, was born on June 30, 1958, in Tamil Nadu. He graduated in B.Sc. in Chemistry from Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai, and later moved to pursue law at the Madras Law College. On February 16, 1983, he was enrolled as a member of the bar and gave his great contribution as a lawyer for 23 years in the Madras High Court.
Justice Ramasubramanian, an author of transformative judgements
Justice V. Ramasubramanian first served as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court in 2006 before being appointed as a permanent judge in 2009. He was later appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh in 2019. He retired in June 2023 as an Hon’ble judge of the Supreme Court of India. He has authored 102 judgments, including his historical judgments on landmark cases, like the demonetization policy in India in 2016 and the legal validity of circumstantial evidence in the cases related to bribery.
The National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) is a statutory body that is responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights in India. It was constituted on 12 October 1993 through the Ordinance of the Protection of Human Rights and was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act of 1993 (PHRA). According to the act, the definition of human rights is stated as “rights (that are) relating to life, liberty, equality, and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution of India..”
