Bhubaneswar: Taking note of concerns raised by rights activists, Orissa High Court has directed the state government to fill existing vacancies in the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC).
According to reports, OHRC is currently functioning with only one member, Chitta Ranjan Mohapatra, following the completion of the tenure of Chairperson Justice Satrughana Pujahari and Member Asim Amitabh Dash February 9.
“As a result, the functioning of the OHRC has been adversely affected because the remaining/existing Member has not been authorised to act as the Chairperson until the appointment of a new Chairperson to fill such vacancy,” the petitioner, Prabir Kumar Das, stated.
The petition said the denial of authorisation has rendered the commission headless and affected its functioning. It also pointed out that the vacancies need to be filled urgently as a large number of cases remain pending before the commission.
A division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M.S. Raman directed the government to fill the vacancies and posted the matter for further hearing March 18.
UNI
