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(Published by the Centre on Public Law and Jurisprudence, Jindal Global Law School)
Presided by
Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, former Chief Justice of India is the Chairperson of the National Human
Rights Commission of India. He is the sixth Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission. Born
on the 12th May, 1945 at in Kottayam District, Kerala, Justice Balakrishnan enrolled as an Advocate of the
Kerala Bar Council on the 16th March, 1968 and pleaded both criminal and civil cases in the Ernakulam
Court. He was appointed as a Munsif in the Kerala Judicial Service on the 10th January, 1973 and later
resigned from the service and resumed practice as an Advocate in the Kerala High Court. He was
appointed as a Judge of the Kerala High Court on the 26th September, 1985. He became the Chief
Justice of the Gujarat High Court on the 16th July, 1998 and was transferred to the High Court of
Judicature at Madras and assumed charge there as Chief Justice on the 9th September, 1999. He was
elevated as the Judge of the Supreme Court on the 8th June, 2000. On 14th January, 2007 he was
appointed as the Chief Justice of India and retired on the 12th May, 2010. During his tenure in the
Supreme Court, he delivered several landmark judgements. These included an order which made the mid-
day meal programme in schools a statutory requirement. This order brought relief to millions of poor
children who had to discontinue their studies due to poverty. Recently a division bench headed by him
held as unconstitutional forcible narco-analysis, polygraph and brain electrical activation profile or brain-
mapping tests by the investigating agencies which were raising concerns on the human rights of the
people. Mr. Justice Balakrishnan has participated in a number of international seminars and delivered
thought provoking lectures in various Universities on legal topics.
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