Justice K.G. Balakrishnan completes his tenure as NHRC Chairperson

Justice Shri K.G. Balakrishnan completed his tenure as the sixth and longest serving Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission on the 11th May, 2015. He had joined the Commission on the 7th June, 2010 after his retirement as the Chief Justice of India.
During about five years of his tenure, the NHRC was credited with several new initiatives towards promotion and protection of human rights. Starting of 'Open Hearings' of the complaints on the problems of Scheduled Castes and atrocities against them in different States of the country was one of his major initiatives.
The Commission's outreach to build awareness about human rights also increased. From the 7th June, 2010 to the 29th April, 2015, the Commission registered a record number of 4,93,445 cases, which also included 599 suo motu cognizance and disposed of 4,64,079 cases by recommending an amount of Rs. 68,97,70,172/- as monetary relief in 2242 cases.
Justice Balakrishnan re-started the practice of NHRC's 'Camp Sittings' in different States to dispose of pending cases in the presence of Government authorities. Not only this, he also set up a Committee to study and classify offences which could be heard by Human Rights Courts.
Justice Balakrishnan promoted national level consultations with different stakeholders on various issues of human rights to form consensus on recommendations to the Government. During his tenure, more than 40 such conferences, seminars and colloquium were organised by the NHRC.
The Commission also filed seven petitions/intervention applications in matters of human rights issues before the Supreme Court and High Courts. These included the issue of powers and role of the NHRC in respect of enquiry in two cases of encounter deaths. He strongly pitched in for the passage of Prevention of Torture Bill, 2011 by Parliament and also reviewed a number of draft legislations and policy documents.
He urged the Government for suitable modification in the Section 377 of the IPC to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender saying that "All people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be able to enjoy their human rights." An Expert Group was set up to prepare some guidelines on Clinical Drug Trials. It was decided to intervene in the matter before the Supreme Court. During his tenure, the NHRC commenced a study to develop a code of ethics for Indian industries to promote corporate-social responsibility.
For building awareness, a record number of 501 training programmes were organised for teachers, para military forces, police personnel, students and other sections of society. The Commission published 28 new books to promote awareness about various human rights issues. He instituted awards for encouraging original writing in Hindi on human rights issues. A short film award scheme to recognize creative work in the field of human rights was also introduced during his tenure.