Rajasthan NHRC chief quits as govt fails to provide office, salary

She reportedly made up her mind to resign two months ago, but Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had persuaded her to stay on and promised to make the arrangements for the commission.

Bhatnagar said that despite not having an office where people could approach them, the commission had received complaints. It handled whatever cases came its way — famine relief, condition of prisoners in jails or the death of a worker in Beawar. But cases could not be followed up as the commission did not have the staff it needed. “We could only ask an SP to look into a case and had to rely on the report filed. There is no staff for investigation,” she said.

She said the commission initially sat in the secretary’s room. Then, she was asked to use one of the three committee rooms in the state secretariat, whichever was not in use. The five members of the commission, the secretary and the chairperson had but one PA between them.

The Act under which the commission was set up says the institution should have staff headed by an officer of the rank of IG Police for investigating cases. Bhatnagar said the approach of the state government appeared to be to reduce the commission to a government department. There was controversy over Bhatnagar’s status, even though the Act says the commission’s chairperson should be a retired High Court chief justice.

Chief Minister Gehlot described Bhatnagar’s resignation as sad and unfortunate. “It takes time to get any new set-up going,” was his explanation.

Governor Anshuman Singh has designated Justice Amar Singh Godara, a member of the commission, in Bhatnagar’s place till an appointment is made.

Bhatnagar was allotted official accommodation two months after her appointment. She paid for water and electricity connection to her quarter. The government had not paid a single pie to any member of the commission ever since it was set up.