Its Constitution, Term and Composition

In one line

Sections 3 to 8 constitute the Commission, fix a three year term, provide its officers, pay its salaries out of grants, save its proceedings from defects and let it regulate its own procedure.

Section 3: constitution

3(1): the Central Government shall constitute a body to be known as the National Commission for Minorities to exercise the powers conferred on and perform the functions assigned to it under the Act.

3(2): the Commission shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and five Members, to be nominated by the Central Government from amongst persons of eminence, ability and integrity, provided that five Members including the Chairperson shall be from amongst the minority communities.

Three observations.

Constitution is mandatory. The word is shall, unlike section 21 of the human rights legislation and section 10 of the bonded labour legislation. This is one of the few group commissions the Government must create.

The composition requirement is the strongest provision in this stretch. Five of the seven, including the Chairperson, must come from the minority communities, so a majority of the body and its head belong to the class it protects.

And the qualification is character rather than expertise. Persons of eminence, ability and integrity is a wide formula, and it contains no requirement of legal, academic or administrative qualification, which is a difference from the human rights legislation, where the Chairperson must have been a Chief Justice or a Judge of the Supreme Court.

Section 4: term and conditions

4(1): the Chairperson and every Member shall hold office for a term of three years from the date of assuming office.

4(2): resignation by writing under hand addressed to the Central Government.

4(3): the Central Government may remove the Chairperson or a Member on stated grounds, which include being adjudged an insolvent, being convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude, becoming of unsound mind, refusing to act or becoming incapable of acting, being absent without leave from three consecutive meetings, and having abused the position so as to render continuance detrimental to the public interest.

Two observations.

Three years is short. A body whose function is monitoring produces value over time, and a term of three years without a guaranteed reappointment limits institutional memory.

And removal is by the Central Government itself. There is no requirement of an inquiry by a judicial officer or of a reference to any other authority, which is a materially weaker protection than the human rights legislation gives, where removal for misbehaviour requires an inquiry by the Supreme Court.

Sections 5 and 6: staff and money

Section 5: the Central Government shall provide the Commission with a Secretary and such other officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of its functions, and their salaries, allowances and conditions of service shall be such as may be prescribed.