Why it took a PIL to get Mizoram its first Human Rights Commission

Mizoram has finally set up a functioning State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), more than three decades after the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 first made the body a legal requirement.

Based on the National Human Rights Commission’s own listing of state-level commissions, which now includes all 28 states, Mizoram appears to be the last state in the country to complete the process, though no official source has explicitly confirmed this.

What is clear is that the commission became a reality only after a public interest litigation forced the state government’s hand, and it took a Gauhati High Court deadline, threats of penalties, and years of bureaucratic delay before a Chairperson and two members were finally sworn in this week.

How the PIL Forced the Issue

The push for a Mizoram SHRC began in 2021, when the Zofa Welfare Organization (ZWO), through its President, Rev. Robawia, filed a public interest litigation asking the Gauhati High Court to direct the State of Mizoram to establish a Commission as mandated under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

The petition, registered as PIL/4/2021, pointed to a 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Shri Dilip Kumar Basu v. State of West Bengal and Ors., which had directed every state government in the country to set up its own Human Rights Commission, a direction Mizoram, along with several other states, had simply not acted on.

For years, the case moved slowly, with the state filing periodic affidavits describing preparatory steps such as advertisements for support staff like Lower Division Clerks and Drivers, along with budget allocations that included Rs. 395.72 lakhs for salaries and office expenses and a further Rs. 18.83 lakhs to renovate the Urban Resource Centre as temporary accommodation for the commission.

By late 2024, Mizoram told the court that the commission had been formally constituted, but it existed only on paper, with no Chairperson or members in place, leaving it entirely non-functional.

Frustrated by the pace of progress, a bench of the Gauhati High Court led by Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Michael Zothankhuma set the state government a final two-month deadline in September, warning of penalties if it failed to comply again. Even after that deadline passed, the bench continued to note that real progress remained limited.

It wasn’t until July 8, 2026, that the State Government finally issued a notification appointing a Chairperson and two members to the Mizoram State Human Rights Commission.

When the matter came up before a bench of Justice Nelson Sailo and Justice Shamima Jahan on July 22, 2026, the Government Advocate, Ms Vanneihsiami, produced a copy of the notification. The bench held that the purpose of the PIL had been served and closed the case, while directing the state to find the commission a permanent building, since its current accommodation remains temporary.

The Swearing-In

The commission became a reality on July 29, 2026, when Mizoram Governor General (Dr) Vijay Kumar Singh (Retd.) administered the oath of office to the commission’s first Chairperson and members at the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan in Aizawl.

Former Gauhati High Court judge Justice Marli Vankung was sworn in as Chairperson, joined by retired Mizoram Judicial Service officer Vanlalenmawia and retired IAS officer K. Lal Nghinglova as members. Chief Minister Lalduhoma, Speaker Lalbiakzama, and several other ministers and senior officials attended the ceremony.

Why It Took So Long

Mizoram’s delay wasn’t unique in kind, but it was unusual in length, and several factors combined to push the timeline out for years. Without active judicial pressure, the requirement carried little urgency.

The Protection of Human Rights Act has obligated every state to set up an SHRC since 1993, and the Supreme Court explicitly directed states to comply in 2015, yet Mizoram, like several other states, treated the requirement as low priority for years in the absence of a court actively monitoring compliance.

Even after the state told the Gauhati High Court in November 2024 that the commission had been established, no Chairperson or members were appointed for well over a year afterwards, meaning the commission existed in name only.

Administrative steps also moved slowly; recruiting support staff, securing funding, and identifying temporary office space all took time, with each step surfacing in affidavits to the court rather than happening on the state’s own initiative.

Filling the senior posts proved to be its own hurdle too, since finding a Chairperson who meets the statutory requirement, typically a retired Chief Justice or High Court judge, can slow implementation even after a state commits to setting up a commission. Tripura’s government once cited a similar shortage of eligible retired judges as a stumbling block during its own delayed rollout.

When Each Northeast State Got Its Human Rights Commission

Assam was the region’s early mover, setting up its commission in 1996, just three years after the national Act came into force.

Manipur followed in 2003, and Sikkim in 2008. The next wave came nearly a decade later and arrived in a cluster: Tripura and Meghalaya both got their commissions in 2016, the same year Nagaland’s commission was formally notified, though Nagaland’s did not become fully functional with a Chairperson in place until 2023.

Arunachal Pradesh completed the process that same year, in 2023, leaving Mizoram as the last state in the region to get its commission up and running, in 2026.

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