The President also appointed Priyank Kanoongo and justice (retd) Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi as members of the rights panel, the statement said. “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,” NHRC posted on X.

The post of NHRC chairperson was vacant since justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra completed his tenure on June 1, 2024. Mishra served as the eighth chairperson of the rights panel and was appointed to its top post in June 2021. Until Monday, former advocate of the Telangana high court Vijaya Bharathi Sayani was the acting chairperson.

On December 18, a high-powered committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to select the next chairperson of the NHRC, people aware of the matter said. Ramasubramanian is a former Supreme Court judge, who also served as chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh high court in 2019. He had enrolled as a member of the Bar on February 16, 1983, and practiced for 23 years in the Madras high court.

On September 23, 2019, he was appointed to the SC. During his SC tenure, which ended upon his retirement on June 29, 2023, he authored 102 judgments. His judicial contributions include participation in significant cases such as the 2016 Demonetisation policy and the validity of circumstantial evidence in bribery cases.