The President of India has empowered the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Union Territory to exercise the powers and functions exercised by the State government under “The Protection of Human Rights Act-1993”, reported a local news agency, Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
“In pursuance of clause (1) of article 239 of the Constitution, the President hereby directs that the powers and functions of the State Government under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 shall, subject to the control of the President and until further orders, be exercised and discharged by the Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh,” reads a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
On 18 March, the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) shall deal with all human rights concerns in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Union Territories.
Before the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir, the erstwhile state had a full-fledged rights body set-up by the National Conference regime in 1997.
The Commission ceased to exist from 31 October 2019 as the law under which it was established was repealed by the Parliament when it passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act on 5 August.
The SHRC had made it easier for people to report human rights abuses in conflict-hit J-K. From its establishment till March 2019, the SHRC received 8,529 cases of alleged human rights violations, of which 7,725 had been dealt with.
In this period, the Commission made recommendations in 1,862 cases of killings, torture, custodial disappearance, and other violations—(KNO)
