New Delhi, Oct 12 — Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant on Monday said the true measure of a human rights institution lies not merely in the number of cases it decides, but in whether it can be heard by those who are least able to make themselves heard.
Addressing the 33rd Foundation Day function of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, CJI Kant said the Commission had evolved from a new idea into a trusted institution for those seeking justice, while stressing the need to ensure that constitutional guarantees of dignity, equality, liberty and justice translate into everyday realities.
"Institutions, like people, are best understood on their birthdays. We look back at where they began, we look around at where they stand, and we look ahead at what they owe the people they serve," the CJI said.
Recalling the NHRC's journey over the past 33 years, he said it had registered more than 24 lakh cases and disposed of over 23 lakh, with a disposal rate exceeding 98 per cent.
"These figures represent not merely institutional output, but the many instances in which a grave violation has been brought into the public eye," CJI Kant said.
He said the NHRC's role was particularly significant for people living in remote districts who might find it difficult to approach a courtroom, describing the Commission as one of the institutions responsible for ensuring that the promises made by the Constitution reach those who need them most.
"If the Constitution is the promise, the Commission is one of its keepers. It listens to those who cannot easily speak, and it can act on its own without waiting to be asked," he said.
The CJI said that the protection of human rights must extend beyond identifying violations to ensuring accountability, meaningful relief for those affected and changes to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
Referring to the apex human rights body's interventions in cases involving custodial torture and deaths, bonded labour, industrial exposure to silicosis and the rights of marginalised communities, he said such work illustrated the importance of institutional intervention in addressing violations and systemic failures.
Stressing the need to focus on the most vulnerable sections of society, CJI Kant said that a right that works for the powerful but fails the powerless cannot be regarded as a right in its true sense. "It is a privilege with better branding," he remarked.
He identified undertrial prisoners who had never met their advocates, migrant workers without documents, elderly persons abandoned by their families, persons with disabilities facing barriers and women whose concerns remained invisible to the systems meant to protect them as examples of people whose rights required greater institutional attention.
The CJI stressed that State Human Rights Commissions had a particularly important role in addressing violations at the local level, given their proximity to communities affected. "In a country as large and diverse as India, the experience of rights is often determined not in the capital, but in a remote village, a particular neighbourhood or even in the household," he said.
CJI Kant said that while the National Commission could set standards and draw attention to broader patterns, State Commissions were often better placed to hear complaints in local languages, reach the affected areas and understand the circumstances in which violations occurred.
CJI Kant also highlighted the complementary responsibilities of different institutions in protecting human rights, saying that courts must intervene when constitutional rights are violated, while Human Rights Commissions must investigate complaints, identify systemic failures and ensure that otherwise overlooked concerns receive institutional attention.
The CJI's address came as the NHRC marked its 33rd Foundation Day with a national conference on the theme, "Water as the Elixir of Life: Advancing Human Dignity through the Right to Water".
The conference featured discussions on the protection and restoration of water bodies and the safeguarding of drinking water sources to ensure safe and sustainable access to water for all.
Commending the NHRC for marking its Foundation Day with a national conference on water, CJI Kant said that human rights were not merely abstract principles but were closely connected with people's everyday lives. "They are as concrete as a glass of clean water in the hands of a child and as urgent as the thirst that child feels," he said.
The Foundation Day function was attended by NHRC Chairperson Justice V. Ramasubramanian, Members Justice (Dr.) Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, Vijaya Bharathi Sayani and Priyank Kanoongo, Secretary General Piyush Goyal, senior officers and other dignitaries.