Odisha Govt. shortlists OHRC Chairperson, Members names, recommends to Governor

RT Bureau, Bhubaneswar, Dec 20: The Odisha government has shortlisted and recommended names for selection of Chairperson and members of the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) to Governor Ganeshi Lal.

Notably, the OHRC chairperson post has been lying vacant after the completion of tenure of Justice Bira Kishore Mishra on August 15 earlier this year and the three-member panel has no active jury member at present.

The names of the recommended candidates for the State’s apex human rights body were discussed at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday.

Odisha Assembly Speaker Pradip Amat, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra and Chief Secretary AP Padhi attended the meeting.

A notification about chairperson will be issued after the Governor approves the names of the OHRC Chairperson and members.

According to sources, a retired Orissa High Court Chief Justice can be appointed Chairperson of the panel whereas two other members of the board will be judges of the HC.

The OHRC was established as per Section 21 of the Human Rights Protection Act, 1993 for protection and promotion of human rights of common man in the State.

A whopping 10,000 cases are pending before the OHRC.