Kathmandu, January 25:

A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed at the Supreme Court today calling on the apex court to order the government to implement the recommendations put forward by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on rights protection.

Advocates Bhoj Raj Air, Bhoj Raj Bhatta and Pushpa Raj Pandey, a Lalitpur resident, jointly filed the PIL asking the SC to direct the government to implement the recommendations of the NHRC within the stipulated time. The Prime Minister’s Office, the Cabinet of ministers and the NHRC have been made the defendants of the writ petition.

According to the petitioners, the government has not implemented 29 recommendations out of 33 put forward by the NHRC during the fiscal year 2061/62 BS. Clause 13 of the National Human Rights Commission Act 1997 requires the government to implement its recommendation within 3 months. “The government is not following the 1997 Act,” the petition said.

“The victims’ right to compensation and the right to punish perpetrators are being violated due to the government delay,” the petitioners said, adding, the SC needs to issue the government a mandamus order.

In its annual report for the fiscal year 2061/62, the autonomous rights body had also lamented on the government’s failure to implement its recommendations in the stipulated time.

The NHRC should also share the responsibility for the non-implementation of its recommendations, the petition said.