NEW DELHI: India is having second thoughts on early legislation setting up a human rights commission; Prime Minister Rao had waxed eloquent on the need for action to end custodial deaths in the country. The well-publicized meeting even set up a committee to finalize the proposed legislation and the prime minister asked the committee to complete its deliberations by the end of October so that the proposed law was passed in the forthcoming session of the Indian parliament. But all that was evidently meant to address the international gallery because India’s talks with the U.K. on an extradition treaty were being under active discussion and home minister S.B.Chavan’ was scheduled to visit London. To create an atmosphere conducive to Chavan’s engagement in the U.K., India set afloat the idea of a human rights commission. India promised an early action on the proposed commission and also made known its intention to permit representatives of Amnesty International to visit Delhi. Delhi appears to be reneging on both the counts. Chavan has Jet it be known that India is in no hurry to legislate on the human rights commission. The proposed law will not be ready before 1993, he has said. As for Amnesty International, the minister has said that its representatives will not be free to visit Punjab and Kashmir or any other sensitive states. Instead, India would like to hold “discussions” with Amnesty representatives in Delhi. Chavan has been quoted as saying “our charge is that Amnesty people are making reports without verification from the state governments creating the impression that there is no rule of law in India.”

Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1992