The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday appointed former Madras High Court judge, Justice Raja Elango and advocate Kannadasan as members of the State Human Rights Commission. The decision was taken in the selection committee meeting, chaired by Chief Minister MK Stalin held at the Secretariat. Tamil Nadu Assembly speaker M Appavu also participated in the meeting.
Times of India reported that Justice Elango served as Chennai city public prosecutor and as a special public prosecutor for corruption cases in the years between 1996 and 2001. Justice Elango was later appointed as the state public prosecutor. In 2006, he was elevated as a judge of the Madras High Court. Justice Elango has served in the Andhra Pradesh High Court and later, the Telangana High Court. In 2019, he was made chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Real Estate Appellate Tribunal.
Advocate Kannadasan hails from Tamil Nadu's Mayiladuthurai and has more than 30 years of experience in civil, criminal, and human rights cases. He is an expert in prisoner rights issues. He served as a public prosecutor for human rights cases from 2006 to 2011.
The Human Rights (Amendment) Act of 2006 prescribes that state Human Rights Commissions must consist of three members. While the commission may be chaired by a retired Chief Justice of the High Court, the other members may be a sitting judge with at least seven years of experience, and someone who possesses practical experience as well as knowledge related to the issues of human rights. The appointing committee should be constituted of the chief minister, Assembly speaker, home minister and the leader of the opposition party.