[1]THE ORISSA HUMAN
RIGHTS COMMISSION (PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS, 2003 In exercise of the powers
conferred by Sub-section (2) of Section 10 read with Section 29 of the
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (Act 10 of 1994), the Orissa Human Rights
Commission hereby makes the following REGULATIONS namely :- PRELIMINARY (1) These
Regulations may be called the Orissa Human Rights Commission (Procedure)
Regulations, 2003. (2) They
shall come into force with effect from 15th September, 2003. (1) In these
Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a) "Act"
means the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 as amended from time to time. (b) "Code"
means the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 as amended from time to time. (c) "Complaint"
means any petition or communication received by the Commission from a victim or
any other person on his behalf, in person or by post or by telegram or by FAX
or by any other means whatsoever, alleging violation of human rights as defined
in Section 2 (d) read with Section 21 (5) of the Act or abetment thereof or
negligence in the prevention of such violation by a public servant. (d) "Commission"
means the Orissa Human Rights Commission; (e) "Chairperson"
means the Chairperson of the Commission and includes a Member authorised to Act
as the Chairperson under Sub-section (1) of Section 25 of the Act. (f) "Director
(Investigation)" means an officer not below the rank of an Inspector
General of Police made available to the Commission by the State Government
under clause (b) of Sub-section (1) of Section 27 of the Act and designated by
the Commission as the Director of Investigation; (g) "Division"
means a Division or Divisions as may be constituted or reconstituted by the
Chairperson from time to time for convenience of transaction of official work
in the office of the Commission and may include Administration Division, Law
Division and Investigation Division. (h) "Division
Bench" means a bench consisting of two Members of the Commission as
constituted by the Chairperson; (i) "Full
Bench" means a bench consisting of three or more members of the Commission
as constituted by the Chairperson; (j) "Member"
means a Member of the Commission and includes the Chairperson; (k) "Registrar"
means the Registrar of the Commission; (l) "Regulation"
means the Regulation framed under Sub section (2) of Section 10 read with
Section 29 of the Act by the Commission as amended from time to time; (m) "Secretary"
means an officer whose services have been made available to the Commission by
the State Government under clause (a) of Sub-section (1) of Section 27 of the
Act and who is designated as such by the Commission. (n) "Single
Bench" means a bench consisting of one Member of the Commission as
Constituted by the Chairperson and, (o) "State
Government" means the Government of Orissa. (2) Words and
expressions not defined in these Regulations, shall, to the extent defined in
the Act, have the same meaning as assigned to them therein. The head-quarters of the
Commission shall, as notified to the State Government, be at Bhubaneswar. The Office of the Commission
shall remain open on all days other than days declared as holidays for the
offices of the State Government at Bhubaneswar. The Commission shall ordinarily
hold its meetings and sittings in its office at Bhubaneswar. The Commission may
however, at its discretion hold any of its meetings and/or sittings at any
place other than its head-quarters if the Chairperson considers it necessary or
expedient so to do. The Commission shall ordinarily,
subject to cases being ready and available for inclusion in the cause list,
have its sittings during the period from 1st to 7th and 14th to 21st of every
month, excepting Saturdays and State Government holidays. The Chairperson,
either suo-motu or at the request of one of more Members, may direct a special
sitting to be convened on any other working day to consider a matter of
urgency. The Secretary and such other
officers of the Commission, as may be directed by the Chairperson, shall attend
the meetings of the Commission. The Secretary shall with the
approval of the Chairperson, prepare the agenda for each meeting of the
Commission. Dates, of meetings shall be fixed in consultation with the
Chairperson. The Secretary shall cause notes to be prepared on each item
included in the agenda. Such notes shall, as far as possible, be
self-contained. Files, reports, records and all papers relating to each agenda
item shall be kept ready for reference by the Chairperson & Members in the
meeting as and when required. Notes on each item included in the agenda shall
ordinarily be circulated to the Members at least two clear days in advance
before the date of the meeting. The Commission may, however, take up for
consideration any matter which is not included in the agenda for that meeting.
When matters are set down only for hearing, cause list of the day of sitting
shall be prepared and circulated. PROCEDURE FOR DEALING WITH
COMPLAINTS OR SUO-MOTU ACTION (1) Complaints
shall be made to the Commission in writing, ordinary in English, Hindi or
Oriya. The Commission may however entertain complaints in any other languages
included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution if the complainant or the
aggrieved person does not know English or Hindi or Oriya. (2) No fee
shall be required to be paid for filing a complaint. (3) Every
complaint shall state the full facts relating to the matter complained against,
specifying the date of occurrence of the incident and the nature of relief
sought for: (4) Every
complaint shall - (i) be
submitted under the signature of the aggrieved person or of a person submitting
the complaint on behalf of the aggrieved person: Provided that when a complaint is
made through any means which does not permit the complaint to be signed as
aforesaid, a signed copy of the complaint shall be simultaneously despatched to
the Commission by post. (ii) state the
name and full address of the aggrieved person or each aggrieved person and if
the complaint is made by any person other than an aggrieved person, the name
and full address of the person making the complaint and of the aggrieved person
or persons; (iii) record a
certificate to the effect that the subject matter of the complaint or the
grievance is not subjudice before any Court or Tribunal or is not pending
before a Commission including the National Human Rights Commission and is not
covered by a judicial verdict or decision of any Commission; (5)
The Commission may, if necessary call for further information '
and may direct affidavits to be filed in respect of any matter or matters
arising out of or connected with the allegation. (6)
A complaint which does not comply with one or more of the
requirements of Regulation 9 shall be liable to be rejected: Provided that where the Commission
is satisfied that a complaint prima facie reveals violation of a human right,
it may permit the complainant to rectify defects or deficiencies under
Regulation 9, if any, within such time as it may in its discretion allow, and
in the event of such defects or deficiencies hot being rectified within the
time allowed by the Commission the complaint shall be rejected and the case
closed. Complaints of the following
nature shall not be entertained by the Commission and shall be dismissed in
limini:- (a) Complaints
which are illegible, anonymous or pseudonymous, (b) Complaints
which are vague, trivial or frivolous. (c) Complaints
which do not prima facie disclose specific violation of human rights. (d) Complaints
which are barred under Section 36(1) of the Act, (e) Complaints
which are barred under Section 36(2) of the Act, (f) Complaints
relating to civil disputes such as property rights, contractual obligation and
the like. (g) Complaints
relating to the deficiency in service covered by the provisions of Consumers
Protection Act, 1986 (68 of 1986). (h) Complaints
relating to service matters or labour or industrial disputes or to claims &
grievances arising out of conditions of service or service rules or labour laws
and the like. (i) Complaints
relating to any matter which in subjudice before a Court or Tribunal or is
covered by a judicial verdict. (j) Complaints
relating to matters being enquired into by the National Human Rights Commission
or any other Commission duly constituted under any law for the time being in
force and matters covered by decision of the National Human Rights Commission
or any such Commission. (k) Complaints
addressed to any other authority copy of which is received in the Commission. (l) Complaints
relating to events or incidents which did not occur within the geographical
limits of the State of Orissa. (m) Complaints
relating to matters outside the purview of the Commission on any other ground. (1) All Communications
in writing (by whatever mode despatched) addressed to the Commission, its
Chairperson, Members or other officers of the Commission by designation shall
be received by the officer designated for the purpose. (2) All
communications addressed to the Chairperson, Members or other officers of the
Commission by name shall be placed before the Chairperson or the Member or the
officer concerned, as the case may be, and shall after their perusal be
forwarded to the officer designated under clause (1) above. (3) The
designated officer shall then arrange to sort out all communications so
received, division-wise and to get them diarised in Form-I (4) All
complaints falling under Section 12(a) of the Act and all communications
relating to any complaint already received or registered shall be submitted to
the Registering Authority. All fresh complaints shall be scrutinised and on
completion of scrutiny the Registrar shall fill up Form 2 indicating inter-alia
whether the complaints are prima facie entertainable or not entertainable for
any reason mentioned in Regulation 9. A scrutiny report shall also be prepared
in respect of any information on the basis of which initiation of Suo-Motu
action is under consideration and such scrutiny report shall be made in Form-3.
He shall then send the Complaint or information on the basis of which Suo-Motu
action is under consideration with the scrutiny report appended thereto to the
officer/Section concerned for registration. Other communications relating to
complaints received earlier and registered shall be processed and appropriately
dealt with. (5) If a
communication is not a complaint under Section 12(a) of the Act, but relates to
the other clauses of Section 12, the same shall be placed before the Secretary,
who shall place it before the full Commission with a brief note as early as
possible in accordance with the procedure outlined in Regulation-7. Complaints shall be classified
subject wise with reference to the subject list in Appendix-1. The subject list
may be modified or amended from time to time with the approval of the
Chairperson. (a) A common
register shall be maintained in Form-4 in the Law Division for entering in
serial order the case number of each complaint registered, the relevant
District Code and year of registration, the corresponding diary number and the
District to which the incident relates. After completion of the scrutiny, entry
shall be made in the common register and the case number assigned to the
complaint along with the District Code shall be entered on the cover page of
the case file in Form-5, of the complaint in red ink and also in the space
provided in the Scrutiny Report. (b) Records
relating to each complaint shall be kept in separate file covers and duly
indexed in Form-6. The same shall be sent to the listing section, or to the
officers responsible for listing for placing the matter before the Commission. (c) All
complaints registered as aforesaid shall be placed before the commission for
consideration as expeditiously as possible and ordinarily not later than seven
working days from the date of its receipt. In case a complaint cannot be placed
before Commission within the period as aforesaid, if shall be placed before the
Chairperson for appropriate orders. (d) Where the
Chairperson directs any complaint to be taken up for urgent consideration, it
shall be placed before the Commission, within such time as may be directed by
the Chairperson. Subject to such special or
general orders of the Chairperson, all complaints other than suo-motu cases
shall ordinarily be dealt with by a Single Bench of the Commission. If the
Single Bench dealing with the case, having regard to the importance of the issues
involved, is of the opinion, that the case should be considered by a Division
the papers shall be placed before the Chairperson for assigning the case to
such a Division Bench if the Chairperson also concurs with that opinion. If the
Chairperson feels that having regard to the importance of the matter the case
should be heard by a larger Bench, the case may be referred to such a larger
Bench, constituted for that purpose All suo-motu cases shall be considered by a
Division Bench unless assigned to a larger bench in accordance with the
procedure outlined above. Cause list shall be prepared in
Form-7 listing the cases under the following heads. (a) For
Admission- Cases, which are prima facie not entertainable and complaints which
are found to be defective shall also be included in this head, for rejection or
appropriate directions. (b) For
Directions- Cases in which information or report has not -been received, cases
in which summons are to be issued, cases requiring interim and interlocutory
orders will be included in this head. (c) for Final
Disposal. (d) Cases
awarding compliance. (e) Review
applications. (a) Cases
shall be included in the Cause list of each Bench as per the directions of the Chairperson. (b) The case
files of the cases posted in the Cause List shall be circulated to the Bench
two days in advance together with the cause list. (a) If after
consideration, a complaint is dismissed in limini, the said order shall be
communicated to the complainant in Form-8. The case shall then be treated as
closed. (b) If a
complaint is admitted or is taken cognizance of suo-motu, the notice in Form-9
shall be sent to the concerned authority enclosing a copy of the complaint or
report or gist of information on which suo-motu cognizance has been taken, with
an intimation to the complaint in Form-8. (c) Such
notice shall specify the time within which the information or the report has to
be submitted. (a) Orders of
the Commission shall be recorded in the Order Sheet in Form-10. Lengthy orders
shall be recorded on separate sheets and appended to the Order Sheet. P.S. or
P.A. attached to the Chair person or Member shall enter in the relevant column
of the Order Sheet the date of the order and the number of the pages. (b) In cases
requiring urgent action in pursuance of the order issued by the Commission, the
concerned P.S. or P.A. shall send the file at once to the Registrar, who shall
arrange for the communication of the order either by fax or telephone or speed
post or telegram and then transmit the records to the concerned section for
further action. A register in Form-11 shall be
maintained and the relevant information shall be entered as and when available
in the relevant columns. (a) Upon
receipt of the report or information called for, a detailed note in the form of
a synopsis shall be prepared by the Registrar in Form-12 and the case then
shall become ready for being placed before the Commission for final disposal. (b) After
considering the report or information, if the Commission disposes of the case
without any recommendation, the case is closed. (1) Summons
in Form-13, indicating the purpose of summoning such person shall be issued in
the following cases :- (a) To the
complainant or any other person on his behalf to afford him a personal hearing. (b) The
another person who in the opinion of the Commission, should be heard for
appropriate disposal of the case. (c) To any
person to cause production of records required by the Commission. (d) To any
person to be examined as witness. (e) To any
person whose conduct is to be enquired into. (f) to any
person, whose reputation, in the opinion of the Commission is likely to be
prejudicially affected. (2) A case in
which summons has been issued for personal appearance of a person shall be
placed before the Commission, on the date noted in the summons for such
personal appearance. (a) Whenever
the Commission orders investigation by its Investigation Division or by any
other investigating agency of the Central or State Government as provided in
Section 14 of the Act, a copy of such order along with copies of the papers
relevant thereto shall be furnish forth-with to such Division or Agency calling
upon it to conduct the investigation and submit its report within the time
specified in the order. (b) If report
is not received within the specified time, the matter shall be placed before
the Commission forthwith for further directions. Whenever the Commission makes any
recommendation after considering the inquiry report, along with its
recommendation shall be sent in Form-14 within seven days from the date of such
recommendation to the concerned Government or authority calling upon it to
furnish its comments on the report including the action taken or proposed to be
taken within one month or such further time as the Commission may allow. (a) If no
comments are received within the specified time, the case shall be placed
before the Commission forthwith for further direction. (b) If
comments are received the case shall be placed before the Commission with a
brief note in Form-15 indicating whether the recommendation of the Commission
has been accepted in full or part or not accepted at all, the reasons for such
non-acceptance or part-acceptance and the action that may be taken or proposed
to be taken. (c) After
considering the comments and the brief note on it, the Commission shall pass
such order as it deems fit. The procedure contained in this Chapter
shall mutatis mutandis apply to suo-motu action taken by the Commission : Provided that the commission may
cause a preliminary enquiry to be conducted before taking cognizance of any
matter suo-motu. The Commission may in its
discretion afford a personal hearing to the petitioner or any other person on
his behalf and such other person or persons as in the opinion of the Commission
should be heard for the proper disposal of the matter before it and where
necessary, call for records and examine witnesses in connection with it. The
Commission shall afford a reasonable hearing including opportunity of cross
examining witnesses, if any, in support of his stand to a person, whose conduct
is enquired into by it or where in its opinion, the reputation of such person
is likely to be prejudicially affected. When the Commission passes order
after inquiry under Section 17, the Registrar shall cause to- (a) prepare a
list of such cases in Form-16, furnishing particulars, such as case number,
name of the complainant, name of the (b) Government
or authority concerned and the date of the final order, with a further note
that a copy of the Inquiry report referred to in Section 18 (6) of the Act is
available for perusal in the library of the Commission. (c) publish
the list so prepared on the Notice Board of the Commission on the first working
day of every month; (d) send to
the library of the Commission two sets of the documents referred to in Section
18 (6) of the Act and the further order if any passed by the Commission in each
case; (e) send
simultaneously free of cost a copy of each of- (1) the
documents referred to in clause (c) to the complainant or his representative;
and (2) the order
referred to in regulation 23 (c) to the concerned government or authority. Unless otherwise ordered, all
communication from the Commission shall be sent by ordinary post certificate of
posting. (a) No party
shall have a right to seek review of the order or proceedings of the
Commission. (b) If any
application seeking review or modification of the order or proceedings passed
by the Commission is received, the same shall be placed before the same Bench,
which made the order along with the case file and the same shall be disposed of
by such order as may be deemed proper. Records of all cases finally
disposed of shall be consigned to the Record section after completing the
entries in the register in Form-11. (a) Unless
otherwise ordered by the Chairperson, the entire records of disposed of
complaints shall be destroyed after the expiry of a period of two years from
the date of final disposal. (b) The
register in Form-11, which contains detailed information regarding each
complaint register shall be retained permanently. (a) The
record keeper shall identify the cases, the records of which are ripe for
destruction and ensure that appropriate entries are made in the register in
Form-11 regarding the date of destruction. A separate register shall also be
maintained containing the list of cases taken up for destruction. (b) Original
documents shall be returned to the person who produced the same on his
application at any time before destruction. (c) Destruction
shall be carried out as per the direction of the Registrar in the month of
August every year. The Registrar shall arrange for
the preparation of the following statements (1) Monthly
statement of registration and disposal in Form-17. (2) Quarterly
subject-wise statement of cases in Form-18. (3) Yearly
statement. MISCELLANEOUS (a) Minutes
of each meeting of the Commission shall be recorded during the meeting itself
or immediately thereafter by the Secretary or by any other officer as directed.
Such minutes shall be submitted to the Chairperson for his approval and upon
his approval be circulated to all the Members of the Commission at the earliest
and in any case sufficiently before the date of the next meeting. (b) The
conclusions of the Commission in every matter undertaken by it shall be
recorded in the form of an opinion. Dissenting opinions, if given, shall form a
part of and be kept on record. Action shall be taken on the basis of the
majority opinion. (c) No action
shall be taken by the Secretariat of the Commission on the minutes of the
meetings until the same are confirmed by the Chairperson. A master copy of the minutes of
every meeting and opinions of the Commission shall be maintained duly
authenticated by the Secretary and a copy of the minutes pertaining to each
item shall be taken to the relevant file for appropriate action/Opinion shall
be kept in the respective records and for convenience, copies thereof with
appropriate indexing shall be kept in guard files. Report of follow up action shall
be submitted to the Commission by the Secretary at every subsequent sitting
indicating therein the present stage of action on each item on which the
Commission had taken a decision in any of its earlier meetings, excepting the
items on which no further action is called for. (a) The
Commission or some of the Members may transact business at places outside its Headquarters
as and when previously approved by the Chairperson. (b) The
Commission or any of its Members, when requested by the Chairperson or the
Chairperson may under take visits for an on the spot study and where such study
is undertaken a report thereon shall be furnished to the Commission as early as
possible. Orders and decisions of the
Commission shall be authenticated by the Secretary or any officer authorised by
the Chairperson not below the rank of a Assistant Registrar. Unless any document is classified
by the Commission as confidential, a copy of the same may be made available to
the parties, on payment of copying charges fixed by the Commission from time to
time. Copies shall be furnished as expeditiously as possible. Parties before the Commission
shall appear either in person or through authorised representative, unless
personal attendance is required by the Commission. Such a representative may be
a member of the Bar or such other person permitted by the Commission to
represent the parties. The Commission shall prepare an
Annual Report for the period commencing from the 1st April of a year to 31st
March of the succeeding year, signed by the Chairperson and all the Members.
The same shall be a permanent record and shall be preserved in the Commission.
Authenticated copies shall be sent to the State Government. The Commission may furnish such
Special Reports on specific matters as may be considered necessary under the
Act. The Secretariat of the Commission
shall arrange for the printing and publication of the Annual and Special
Reports as expeditiously as possible. Reports contemplated under
Section 18 of the Act shall be sent to the Concerned Government or authority or
the person as the case may be within a week of completion of the proceedings
before the Commission and on receipt of the Comments of the concerned
Government or authority or the person, the Commission shall publish the report
in the manner provided in Section 18 of the Act. The Commission shall have its own
team of investigation headed by an officer not below the rank of Inspector
General of police, who shall be designated as the Director of Investigation.
The Director of investigation shall be assisted by such number of Police Officers
and men of such rank as may be decided from time to time in consultation with
the State Government. The State Government shall make available the personnel
to the Commission on deputation. Complaints received and
considered by the Commission prior to the Commencement of the Regulations shall
be deemed to have been dealt with under these Regulations and in respect of
such complaints, records shall be complied with and subsequent actions taken to
the extent reasonably practicable' in accordance with the provisions of these
Regulations. The forms and annexures referred
to these Regulations shall be deemed to be a part of these Regulations. Where under these Regulations any
duty or responsibility has been entrusted to any officer of the Commission or
functionary and such officer or functionary is not available, the Chairperson
may assign such duties or responsibilities to any other officer or functionary
for the time being. Commissions may from time to time
add delete and amend these Regulations or any provision thereof and may issue
appropriate directions on any matter not covered by these Regulations. [(Regulation No. 12)] ORISSA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Subject-wise classification of incidents
leading to Complaints/Suo Motu Action Code
No. Major
Head Sub
Code No. Sub
Head 100 Children 100.01 Child
Labour 100.02 Child
Marriage 100.03 Child
Prostitution 100.04 Exploitation
of Children 100.05 Human
Sacrifice 100.06 Immoral
Traffic in Children 100.07 Cruelty
to Children 100.08 Neglect
of Children 200 Health 200.01 Exploitation
of the mentally retarded 200.02 Public
Health hazards 200.03 Malfunctioning
of medical institutions/medical professionals. 300 Jail 300.01 Custodial
death 300.02 Custodial
rape 300.03 Exploitation
of child prisoners 300.04 Denial
of required medical facilities to prisoners. 300.05 Deprivation
of legal aid 300.06 Harassment
of Prisoners 300.07 Irregularities
in Jail 300.08 Non-supply
of prescribed diet to prisoners 300.09 Unlawful
solitary confinement 400 Criminal 400.01 Harassment
by Gangs Gangs 400.02 Mischief
or harassment by anti-social elements 500 Labour 50001 Bonded
Labour 500.02 Exploitation
of Labour 500.03 Forced
Labour 500.04 Hazardous
employment 500.05 Slavery 500.06 Traffic
in human labour 600 Minorities/ 600.01 Discrimination
against minorities SC/ST 600.02 Discrimination
against SC/ST 700 Physically 700.01 Exploitation
of physically handicapped Handicapped 700.02 Cruelty
to physically handicapped 700.03 Discrimination
against physically handicapped 700.04 Neglect
of physically handicapped 800 Police/Para- 800.01 Arbitrary
use of power military
Forces 800.02 Abduction/Kidnapping 800.03 Abuse
of Power 800.04 Attempted
Murder 800.05 Custodial
death 800.06 Custodial
rape 800.07 Custodial
torture 800.08 Custodial
violence 800.09 Death
in firing 800.10 Death
in encounter 800.11 Failure
in taking lawful action 800.12 False
implications 800.13 Illegal
arrest 800.14 Outraging
of modesty in custody 800.15 Police
motivated incidents 800.16 Rape 800.17 Unlawful
detention 800.18 Victimisation 900 Pollution 900.1 Ecological
disturbances 900.02 Pollution
affecting surroundings 900.03 'Environment
pollution 900.04 Misuse
of scientific and technological Developments 1000 Religion- 1000.01 Communal
Violence Community 1000.02 Ethnic
conflict 1000.03 Group
clashes 1000.04 Racial
discrimination 1100 Service
matter 1100.01 Disparities
in Employment opportunities 1100.02 Non-payment
of Pension/compensation 1100.03 Other
service disputes. 1200 Women 1200.01 Abduction,
Rape and Murder 1200.02 Discrimination
against women 1200.03 Dowry
death or attempt 1200.04 Dowry
demand 1200.05 Exploitation
of women 1200.06 Gang
rape 1200.07 Indignity
of women 1200.08 Immoral
trafficking of women 1200.09 Rape 1200.10. Sexual
harassment 1300 Miscellaneous 1300.01 Disappearance 1300.02 Unlawful
actions of Public Servants 1300.03 Unlawful
eviction 1300.04 Residual
matters