Justice V. Ramasubramanian, a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, assumed charge as the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India, on Monday. Justice (Dr.) Vidyut Ranjan Sarangi also took office as a Member of the Commission. Their appointments were made by President Droupadi Murmu on December 21.
The occasion was attended by Vijaya Bharathi Sayani, Acting Chairperson, Secretary General Bharat Lal, and other senior officers and staff of the Commission.
Addressing the gathering, Justice Ramasubramanian underscored India’s ancient tradition of valuing and practicing human rights long before the concept gained global recognition. Quoting the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, he emphasized that human rights are deeply ingrained in India’s cultural heritage. He also highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts among various stakeholders to promote and protect human rights.
Born on June 30, 1958, in Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, Justice Ramasubramanian is a distinguished jurist. He holds a BSc in Chemistry from Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai, and a law degree from Madras Law College. He enrolled as a member of the Bar on February 16, 1983, and practiced in the Madras High Court for 23 years.
Justice Ramasubramanian was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court in 2006 and became a permanent judge in 2009. In 2016, he was transferred to the High Court of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, continuing his tenure in the Telangana High Court after bifurcation.
In 2019, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and later that year became a Judge of the Supreme Court. Justice Ramasubramanian retired on June 29, 2023, after authoring 102 judgments, including landmark rulings on the 2016 demonetization policy and circumstantial evidence in bribery cases.
Justice (Dr.) Vidyut Ranjan Sarangi, born on July 20, 1962, in Nayagarh, Odisha, is an eminent legal expert. He holds an LLB and LLM from MS Law College, Cuttack, and a PhD in Law from Sambalpur University. Starting his legal practice in 1985, he specialized in civil, criminal, constitutional, and administrative law for over 27 years. He was honored with the prestigious Haricharan Mukherjee Memorial Award and Gold Medal in 2002.
On June 20, 2013, Dr. Sarangi was appointed as a Permanent Judge of the Orissa High Court, where he disposed of over 152,000 cases and authored nearly 1,500 judgments. In July 2024, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court. He has contributed to several legal and administrative committees, including the Odisha State Legal Services Authority and the Juvenile Justice Committee, and is an active member of various national and international legal organizations.