State does not care about human rights commission: HC

The Bombay high court on Friday said that despite an increase in human rights violations and unsolved custodial deaths in the state, the Maharashtra government does not care about the human rights commission. A bench of Justices VM Kanade and PR Bora said the state seemed unwilling to give the commission even basic facilities.

It said the government had failed to do anything for the commission since its inception and asked if this was because it did not value the body.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by an activist, who sought a new office and adequate staff for the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission.

The commission has been battling a shortage of funds and staff for the past few months. Despite repeated representations and previous court orders, it has not yet received a reply from the state.

The commission currently operates from a small office near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Officials said this is inadequate as they need an office space of around 1,000 to 8,000 square feet.

The state told the court on Friday that in compliance with a previous order, the principal secretaries of the general administration, finance, law and home departments had conducted a joint meeting last month to address the commission’s lack of staff and funds. They concluded that it was difficult to give the commission a new office owing to a lack of space

consider the vacant MTNL building at Cooperage, or the Air India building as potential offices for the commission. It directed the state to select an option within 12