Bangalore: The former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Darmar Murugesan will be the next chairman of the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC).

The post has been vacant for the last 18 months after former Karnataka High Court judge S.R. Nayak retired. Mr. Murugesan is also a member of the National Human Rights Commission.

The decision was taken on Tuesday evening at a meeting at Vidhana Soudha, chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in the presence of Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights T.B. Jayachandra.
Mr. Jayachandra had promised to appoint the KSHRC chief by December 17 after activists staged a protest at a Human Rights Day function.

Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office said that the post was first offered to former Supreme Court judge R.V. Raveendran who turned it down. Mr. Murugesan, however, accepted the post enthusiastically, according to the sources.
Background

Mr. Murugesan, who was appointed as a judge of the Madras High Court in 2000 was promoted as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court in August 2012. He retired in May this year. During his short stint in the Delhi High Court, Mr. Murugesan came in for praise after he took suo motu cognisance of the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape case.

He is also known for the reforms he initiated in Tihar jail and for the order to build more night shelters for the homeless.
He conducted periodic surprise checks in city markets to ascertain if there was pesticide residue in fruits and vegetables, and also brought about a ban on sale of junk food in schools.