Composition and Functions — Basic Structure

Basic Structure

Composition and appointment

Section 3 permits a former Chief Justice of India or Supreme Court judge as Chairperson. Ordinary members include a serving or former Supreme Court judge, a serving or former High Court Chief Justice and three human-rights experts, at least one a woman. Specified commission heads are deemed members for section 12(b)–(j), not the complaint function in 12(a).

The President appoints after recommendations from the section 4 committee chaired by the Prime Minister. Remember the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, alongside the other specified members. The amended term is three years, subject to the age ceiling of seventy; reappointment is permitted.

Inquiry and prevention

Section 12 includes complaints, court-approved intervention, visits to detention institutions, review, research and rights literacy. Section 13 supplies evidence-gathering powers. Section 16 provides a hearing for people likely to be prejudicially affected.

Outcomes and limits

Section 18 includes recommendations for compensation or appropriate action and the possibility of approaching constitutional courts. Recommendation is not conviction, and compensation recommended is not automatically compensation paid. Section 19 provides a separate armed-forces procedure.

Section 36(2) uses one year from the alleged act as the ordinary limitation reference. Do not replace it with an assumed discovery date. Evaluate the institution through access, inquiry quality, responses, remedies and preventive changes. Complaint totals alone cannot show whether recurring violations have been reduced.