Jan
23
Punjab State Human Rights Commission
January 23, 2004 | 1 Comment
The Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) is planning to go online within a couple of months. The website will provide information on the PSHRC as well as allow people to check the status of their cases:
At an average, the PSHRC receives between 200 and 300 complaints per day and the petitioners have to visit the office of the Commission in Sector 34 here to enquire about the status of their complaints. Sources said to make the Commission more friendly and accessible, it was decided to launch an exclusive website for the Commission.
The PSHRC was formed under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, and has severe limitations. For example, it can only examine cases that fall within a one-year statute of limitations.
The PSHRC was instrumental in clearing the case filed against Rajiv Singh Randhawa, a witness to the abduction of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra in 1995 by Tarn Taran policemen. The police attempted to charge Randhawa with terrorist activities, but the PSHRC exonerated him. After Randhawa was arrested for the third time in September 2000, Amnesty International wrote:
This is the third time that Rajiv Singh Randhawa has been arrested by Punjab police and charged with serious offences. On the last occasion, he was accused of setting up an organization to fight for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan, the Tigers of Sikh Land. In July this year the Punjab Human Rights Commission ruled that those charges against Rajiv Singh were “concocted” by police as a means of dissuading him from giving evidence against police in the Khalra case. The Commission recommended that criminal cases be registered against the police officers and further investigations carried out. Rajiv Singh was awarded compensation for his illegal detention.
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