By IANS,
Hyderabad : Former Andhra Pradesh High Court chief justice Nisar Ahmad Kakru will be the new chairman of state human rights commission, it was announced Tuesday.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the selection committee comprising Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu and others.
The main opposition, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) backed the Congress government’s proposal to appoint Kakru as the chairman of the panel for five years.
The 62-year-old, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, retired as the chief justice last month.
The post of SHRC chairman was lying vacant for more than one and a half years after the retirement of B. Subhashan Reddy. K. Peda Peri Reddy, a non-judicial member, has been serving as the acting chairman since then.
Naidu told reporters after the meeting that the TDP supported Kakru as he belonged to the minority community.
The meeting was also attended by assembly Speaker N. Manohar, legislative council Chairman A. Chakrapani and Leader of Opposition in council D. Veerbhadra Rao.
Kakru enrolled as a lawyer in 1975 at the Jammu and Kashmir High Court and rose to become the additional advocate general of the state in 1988 and as the advocate general in 1996. He was appointed as judge of the high court in 1999.