Gandhinagar: Hearings before Gujarat State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) have effectively remained stalled for more than a month. The terms of its chairperson and member ended in Sept, but no replacements have yet been appointed. Justice (retd) K J Thaker’s term as chairperson ended on Sept 5, while that of B S Upadhyay, member, ended on Sept 9.The commission has been informing applicants in writing that their scheduled hearings will remain adjourned until new appointments are made. The development has affected the functioning of the two courts at SHRC, which together hear around 100 or more cases every month.Rights activist Kantilal Parmar, who had approached the commission over basic infrastructure facilities in AMC-run schools, received a communication from SHRC on Tuesday stating, “… the posts of the honorable chairperson and honorable member are presently vacant at the human rights commission, and therefore it is not possible to conduct the hearing of the case at present.”The communication further said, “… the hearing shall remain adjourned until the appointment of the new hon’ble chairperson and hon’ble member, or until any other order is passed.”Parmar said, “I have sent an email to the chief minister, stating that hearings in the SHRC should not come to a standstill because of vacancies in the posts of chairperson and member. I have also demanded that the appointments be made at the earliest, as SHRC is an important platform where citizens can report violations of human rights.”Sources in SHRC said applicants whose cases were listed for hearing after Sept 7 were being informed about the adjournments so that they were not put to inconvenience. “Acting on complaints, the commission has been asking for reports from authorities concerned, but hearings of cases take place in courts and that is not possible at present, since the term of the chairpersons and member has ended,” said a source, adding that petitioners who have been allotted dates after Sept 7 are being informed about the inability to conduct hearings.SHRC has two courts — one presided over by the chairperson and the other by the member. According to officials, between five and 15 cases are ordinarily listed for hearing on each working day.
