National Human Rights Commission

Manav Adhikar Bhawan

Block-C, GPO Complex, INA, 

New Delhi – 110023

Facilitation Centre (Madad): (011) 2465 1330, 2466 3333 

Mobile  No. (for HRDs): +91 9999393570

Fax No: (011) 2465 1332

NHRC Help Line No. 14433

Email: cr[dot]nhrc[at]nic[dot]in

Website:https://nhrc.nic.in/

Click here to view the Composition of the Commission.

For details of the Chief Executive Officer/ Secretary General, Director General (Investigation), Registrar (Law), and other senior officers of the Commission, please visit the ‘Contact Us’ webpage.

State Human Rights Commissions: The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 makes provisions for the establishment of State Human Rights Commissions. For more information, please visit the State Human Rights Commissions webpage.

The Commission undertakes several major initiatives to promote and protect human rights in India.

• The NHRC's Online Complaint Management System allows individuals to file complaints easily from any location, in any of the 22 languages recognized under the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
• The Commission conducts camp sittings and orders spot inquiries to address grievances directly. While investigation teams carry out on-the-spot inquiries, camp sittings are held to engage with citizens and raise awareness about human rights.
• It also conducts training programs for the armed forces, police, public officials, civil society organizations, and students to promote human rights education and awareness.
• Under Section 12(g) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, NHRC is mandated to undertake and promote research in the field of Human Rights. These researches are conducted through reputed academic institutions and NGOs on a wide range of human rights issues.
• The Commission also undertakes the publication of its Annual Report, Annual Journal, and disseminates information about human rights issues through reports and recommendations, press releases and monthly newsletters.
• As mandated by the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993, the NHRC reviews constitutional and legal safeguards for the protection of human rights and recommends measures for their effective implementation. To fulfill this mandate, the Commission has established a mechanism for issuing advisories in areas requiring intervention.
• It issues guidelines to prevent misuse of powers of arrest by the police, and encourages the establishment of Human Rights Cells in State/ City Police Headquarters.
• Efforts are also made to sensitize authorities regarding issues of custodial deaths, rape, and torture, and accession to the convention against torture and the additional protocols to the Geneva Conventions.
• It also promotes discussions on adopting Refugee Law for systemic reforms in the functioning of police, prisons, and detention centers.
• Regular visits to jails, mental health institutions, and similar facilities are conducted to ensure compliance with human rights standards.
• The Commission also plays a crucial role in monitoring the implementation of international human rights treaties and conventions.
• Its efforts have extended to combating bonded and child labour, protecting the right to food, addressing maternal anemia and congenital mental disabilities in children, and advocating for the rights of people living with HIV/ AIDS.
• Special attention has been given to the rights of vulnerable groups, including Women and Children, Minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, people displaced by large development projects and victims of major disasters
• In the area of education and awareness, the Commission promotes human rights literacy across the educational system and in society at large.

• Inquiring into complaints is one of the major activities of the Commission. In several instances, individual complaints have highlighted broader issues related to violations of rights, enabling the Commission to urge the concerned authorities to implement systemic improvements.
• The Commission also actively seeks out significant human rights issues either suo motu or when brought to its attention by civil society, the media, concerned citizens, or expert advisers. Its focus is to strengthen the extension of human rights to all sections of society, particularly vulnerable groups
• The Commission's purview covers the entire range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.
• Special attention has been given to areas affected by terrorism and insurgency, custodial deaths, rape, and torture, as well as the reform of the police, prisons, and other institutions such as juvenile homes, mental hospitals, and women’s shelters.
• The Commission has advocated for the provision of primary health facilities to ensure maternal and child welfare, which are essential for a life with dignity.
• It has also emphasized the importance of basic needs such as portable drinking water, food, and nutrition, while highlighting fundamental questions of equity and justice for the less privileged, namely Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and the prevention of atrocities against them.
• The rights of the disabled, access to public services, displacement of people especially tribal’s displaced by mega projects, food scarcity and allegations of death by starvation, rights of the child, and rights of women subjected to violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination have all been focal points of the Commission’s work. The Commission has also addressed the rights of minorities on numerous occasions.

• Since its inception, the Commission has handled a wide variety of complaints. On an average, the Commission receives more than 5000 complaints every month. In the most recent period, major complaints have concerned issues related to police administration, including failure to take action, unlawful detention, false implication, custodial violence, illegal arrest, and other police excesses.
• The Commission has also dealt with cases of custodial deaths, encounter deaths, harassment of prisoners, and poor jail conditions. Complaints regarding atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, bonded labour, child labour, and child marriage have been prominent.
• Other significant issues include communal violence, dowry deaths or attempts, abduction, rape, and murder. The Commission has also addressed complaints related to sexual harassment, indignity, and exploitation of women. Beyond these, numerous other complaints that do not fall under specific categories have been taken up by the Commission.

• The authority/ State Government, or Central Government is required to provide their comments or report the action taken on the Commission’s reports or recommendations within one month for general complaints and within three months for complaints related to the armed forces.

Ordinarily, complaints of the following nature are not entertained by the Commission:

• Complaints regarding events that happened more than one year prior to the filing of the complaint;
• Matters that are sub-judice (pending before a court of law);
• Complaints that are vague, anonymous, or pseudonymous;
• Complaints of a frivolous nature;
• Complaints pertaining to service matters.

• The Commission may, on its own motion or on petitions alleging human rights violations by armed forces, seek a report from the Central Government. Upon receiving the report, the Commission may either decide not to proceed with the complaint or make recommendations to the Government.
• According to the Act, the Central Government shall inform the Commission of the action taken on the recommendations within three months or within such further time as the Commission may allow.
• Furthermore, the Commission shall publish its report along with its recommendations and the action taken by the Government. A copy of the published report will also be provided to the petitioner.

Complaints may be submitted in Hindi, English, or any language included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

• Complaints are expected to be self-contained.
• No fee is charged for filing complaints.
• The Commission may request further information or affidavits to support the allegations if necessary.
• At its discretion, the Commission may accept complaints submitted via fax or email at complaints-nhrc@nic.in

Upon completion of an inquiry, the Commission may:

• Recommend to the concerned Government or authority the initiation of prosecution or other appropriate action against any public servant found guilty of human rights violations or negligence in preventing such violations;
• Approach the Supreme Court or the High Court for directions, orders, or writs deemed necessary;
• Recommend to the concerned Government or authority the grant of immediate interim relief to the victim or the victim’s family members, as the Commission considers necessary.

• While inquiring into complaints, the Commission may call for information or reports from the Central Government, any State Government, or subordinate authorities within a specified time.
• If the information or report is not received within the stipulated time, the Commission may proceed with the inquiry independently.
• On the other hand, on the receipt of the information or report, if the Commission is satisfied, no further inquiry is required or that necessary action has already been taken, it may discontinue the inquiry and inform the complainant accordingly.

• In-Person
• NHRC's Website (https://nhrc.nic.in)
• HRCNet Portal (https://hrcnet.nic.in)
• Post
• Email: complaint.nhrc@nic.in
• Common Service Center (CSC)

• Yes. The Commission’s autonomy derives, inter-alia, from the method of appointing its Chairperson and Members, their fixed tenure, statutory guarantees, the status accorded to them, and the manner in which its staff (including the investigative agency) is appointed and operates.
• The financial autonomy of the Commission is specified in Section 32 of the Act. The Chairperson and Members are appointed by the President based on recommendations from a Committee comprising the Prime Minister (as the Chairperson), the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Home Minister, leaders of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

• हाँ। आयोग की स्वायत्तता, अन्य बातों के साथ-साथ, इसके अध्यक्ष और सदस्यों की नियुक्ति की विधि, उनके निश्चित कार्यकाल, वैधानिक गारंटी, उन्हें प्रदान की गई स्थिति और इसके कर्मचारियों (जांच एजेंसी सहित) की नियुक्ति और संचालन के तरीके से प्राप्त होती है।
• आयोग की वित्तीय स्वायत्तता अधिनियम की धारा 32 में निर्दिष्ट है। अध्यक्ष और सदस्यों की नियुक्ति राष्ट्रपति द्वारा एक समिति की सिफारिशों के आधार पर की जाती है, जिसमें प्रधानमंत्री (अध्यक्ष के रूप में), लोकसभा अध्यक्ष, गृह मंत्री, लोकसभा और राज्यसभा में विपक्ष के नेता और राज्यसभा के उपसभापति शामिल होते हैं।

• Yes. The Commission has its own investigative staff headed by a Director General of Police for investigating human rights violation complaints.
• Under the Act, the Commission may also utilize the services of officers or investigation agencies from the Central or State Governments. Additionally, the Commission has involved non-governmental organizations in investigations in several cases.

While inquiring into complaints under the Act, the Commission shall have all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and in particular the following:

• Summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them under oath;
• Discovery and production of documents;
• Receiving evidence on affidavits;
• Requisitioning public records or copies from courts or offices;
• Issuing commissions for examining witnesses or documents;
• Exercising any other matter which may be prescribed.

The Commission shall perform all or any of the following functions:

• Inquire, on its own initiative or on a petition by a victim or any person on his behalf, into complaints of:

i. Violation of human rights or abetment, or
ii. Negligence in preventing such violations by a public servant;

• Intervene in any proceeding involving human rights violations, with court approval;
• Visit, under the intimation to the State Government, any jail or other institution where persons are detained for treatment, reformation, or protection, to study living conditions and make recommendations;
• Review the safeguards by or under the constitutional or any law for the time being in force for the protection of human rights and recommend measures for effective implementation;
• Review factors, including act of terrorism, inhibiting the enjoyment of human rights and recommend remedial measures;
• Study international treaties and instruments on human rights and recommend their effective implementation;
• Undertake and promote human rights research;
• Spread human rights literacy and awareness through publications, media, seminars, and other means;
• Encourage efforts of NGOs and institutions working in human rights;
• Perform any other functions necessary for human rights promotion.

• As per Section 2 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (the Act), “human rights” means rights relating to life, liberty, equality, and dignity of the individual guaranteed under the Constitution or embodied in international covenants and enforceable by courts in India.
• “International Covenants” refers to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966.