Former Supreme Court judge Justice V Ramasubramanian was appointed as the new chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday. The position had been vacant since Justice (retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra’s tenure ended on June 1.
The NHRC announced the appointments on X, stating, “Hon’ble President of India appoints Shri Justice V. Ramasubramanian (Retd.) as the Chairperson, and Shri Priyank Kanoongo and Dr. Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi (Retd.) as the Members of the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC), India.”
On December 18, a high-level committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened to finalise the selection of the NHRC chairperson, sources earlier indicated.
Who is V Ramasubramanian?
V Ramasubramanian was born on June 30, 1958, and completed his graduation in Chemistry from Ramakrishna Mission, Vivekananda College, Chennai, the top court’s website stated.
He later studied law at Madras Law College and became a member of the Bar on February 16, 1983. Over 23 years, he practiced law in the Madras high court and worked under Senior Advocates K. Sarvabhauman and T.R. Mani from 1983 to 1987.
On July 31, 2006, he was appointed as an additional judge of the Madras High Court and was confirmed as a permanent Judge on November 9, 2009. In 2016, he was transferred at his request to the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. After the bifurcation of the High Courts in 2019, he continued as a Judge in the Telangana high court.
On June 22, 2019, he became the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh high court. Later, on September 23, 2019, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India.
Before his elevation, Justice Ramasubramanian practiced law for 23 years in diverse areas, including service law, appearing before the Madras High Court, administrative tribunals, consumer forums, and civil courts. His judicial career saw a steady progression from the Madras High Court to the apex court.