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Chapter I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and
commencement
(1 ) This Act may be called the
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
(2) It extends to the whole of India. Provided that it shall apply to the State
of Jammu and Kashmir only in so far as it pertains to the
matters relatable to any of the entries enumerated in List I
or List lll in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution as
applicable to that State.
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into
force on the 28th day of
September, 1993.
2. Definitions
(1) In this Act, unless the context
otherwise requires-
(a) "armed forces" means the
naval, military and air forces and includes any other armed
forces of the Union; (b)
"Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Commission or of
the State Commission, as the case may be; (c) "Commission" means the National
Human Rights Commission under section 3; (d) "human rights" means the rights
relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the
individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the
International Covenants and enforceable by courts in
India. (e) "Human Rights Court"
means the Human Rights Court specified under section 30; (f) "International Covenants" means the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations
on the 16th December,
1966; (g) "Member" means a Member of
the Commission or of the State Commission, as the case may
be, and includes the Chairperson; (h) "National Commission for
Minorities" means the National Commission for Minorities
constituted under section 3 of the National Commission for
Minorities Act, 1992; (i) "National
Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes"
means the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes referred to in article 338 of the
Constitution; (j) "National
Commission for Women" means the National Commission for
Women constituted under section 3 of the National Commission
for Women Act, 1990; (k)
"Notification" means a notification published in the
official Gazette; (I) "Prescribed"
means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (m) "Public servant" shall have the
meaning assigned to it in section 21 of the Indian Penal
Code; (n) "State Commission" means a
State Human Rights Commission constituted under section
21.
(2) Any reference in this Act to a law,
which is not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir,
shall, in relation to that State, be construed as a reference
to a corresponding law, if any, in force in that
State. |