[3] The Protection of Human Rights Act mandates the NHRC to perform the following: The NHRC consists of the chairperson and five members (excluding the ex-officio members) [4] The sitting Judge of the Supreme Court or sitting Chief Justice of any High Court can be appointed only after the consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

The chairperson and members of the NHRC are appointed by the President of India, on the recommendation of a committee consisting of: A report concerning how the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case was rejected, a case involving high-ranking officials, opened the organisation up to questioning over the usefulness of human rights commissions set up by the government at the national and state levels.

[16] His son-in-law P. V. Srinijan, an Indian National Congress politician, had to resign for suddenly coming into possession of land worth Rs.

[17] Many prominent jurists, including former CJ J. S. Verma, SC ex-Judge V. R. Krishna Iyer, noted jurist Fali S. Nariman, former NHRC member Sudarshan Agrawal and prominent activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, have called on Balakrishnan's resignation pending from the NHRC pending inquiry.

[19] The NHRC held that 16 out of 19 police encounters with suspected Maoists in Guntur and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh, prior to 2002, were fake and recommended the Government payment of compensation of ₹5 lakh each to the kin of the families.