Chapter - 1 IN TR ODUCTION 1.1 This is the twentieth Annual Report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). It covers the period from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. 1.2 The nineteenth Annual Report of the Commission, for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, was submitted to the Central Government on 21 January 2013 for preparing the Memorandum of Action Taken and placing the same before each House of Parliament in compliance with the procedure laid down under Section 20 (2) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 and its amendment thereby in September 2006 (PHRA). 1.3 During the period under review, Justice Shri K. G. Balakrishnan, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India continued to hold the office of Chairperson in the Commission. Justice Shri B.C. Patel and Shri Satyabrata Pal also continued to serve as Members in the Commission whereas two Members, Shri P. C. Sharma and Justice Shri G. P. Mathur, on completing their tenure relinquished office on 27 June 2012 and 18 January 2013 respectively. 1.4 In accordance with Section 3 (3) of the PHRA, Dr. P. L. Punia, Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes; Dr. Rameshwar Oraon, Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes; Shri Wajahat Habibullah, Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities and Ms. Mamta Sharma, Chairperson of the National Commission for Women continued to be deemed Members for discharge of functions specified in clauses (b) to (j) of Section 12 of the PHRA. 1.5 Dr. Ashok Sahu (IES:75) succeeded Dr. Rajiv Sharma, IAS (RJ:76) as the Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer of the NHRC on 11 November 2012 upon the superannuation of the latter on 31 July 2012. Prior to his joining NHRC, Dr. Sahu was holding the post of Principal Advisor, Labour, Employment & Manpower and Development Policy & Perspective Planning Divisions in the Planning Commission. Smt. Kanwaljit Deol, IPS (AGMU:77) took over on 11 December 2012 as Director General (Investigation) from Shri Sunil Krishna, IPS (UP:73), who superannuated on 30 June 2012. Smt. Deol was Special Commissioner of Police, Delhi prior to her joining. She has served in various key positions in her cadre States, including that of Director General of Police, Arunachal Pradesh. Shri Alok Kumar Shrivastava, IAS (SK:84) joined the Commission as Joint Secretary (Programme & Administration) on 5 November 2012. He succeeded Shri J. P. Meena, IAS (AM:83) who held this post till 2 April 2012. Before joining the Commission, Shri Shrivastava was Principal Secretary, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment and Department of Science & Technology, Government of Sikkim. Shri A. K. Garg continued to serve as Registrar (Law) and Shri J. S. Kochher (IES:1986) as Joint Secretary (Training) in the NHRC. NHRC 1