Bhopal 23rd August : Madhya Pradesh High Court has demanded the state’s response to controversy over the appointment of Justice (retd) Manohar Mamtani to be an official member of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).The announcement comes just 3 months after a panel headed by the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with two additional members namely the Speaker of the state Assembly Girish Gautam and the House Leader of House Narottam Mishra, and others, appointed Mamtani as an official SHRC member of SHRC in June.
The notice was published on Monday by a bench of the High Court headed by Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra following the hearing of a petition to challenge the decision of the Governorind Singh, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Govind Singh, the state Assembly Govind Singh.
The appointment was deemed “arbitrary and unlawful”, Singh alleged that LoP is one of the members of the committee that decides the names.
Singh stated that he did not participate in the meeting because of an earlier engagement out of Bhopal at the time that Mamtani was appointed an official member of Madhya Pradesh Human Right Commission without his consent.
He also claimed that a circular to meet in this context was published the day before the meeting took place, when it ought to have been published at least a week ahead of the date of the meeting.”By the time the agenda for the meeting was announced I was not able to travel out of Bhopal due to a prior commitments, and so I was unable to be present at the meeting.But, the committee which is headed by CM and Speaker and Leader of the house, are the members of the committee that appointed Mamtani as a participant of Madhya Pradesh Human Right Commission,” Singh said.
He further stated that the Leader of Opposition was also included in the committee to ensure that there is transparency in the procedure.”There is no requirement of majority however, the selection is made with the approval of all of its members.The ruling party is comprised of three members which includes the chief minister.The sole opposition member is the chief of opposition.
The reason they have included LOP in the committee is unclear if they don’t want its approval.This is the reason why I protested against Mamtani’s appointment however, I have no personal disagreement with Mamtani.
I went to court because the appointment ought to have been in conformity with the rules,” talking to IANS Singh said.
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