Kathmandu, February 23:

The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Cabinet and the Constitutional Council headed by PM Girija Prasad Koirala asking them to clarify why the posts of the chairperson and members of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) are still vacant.

A single bench of Justice Balaram KC was responding to a writ petition filed on February 20 by a group of four officials of the NHRC, seeking the apex court’s mandamus order to the authorities to appoint the chairperson and the members.

The bench directed the authorities to submit their written replies within 15 days.

The petitioners claimed that the government’s failure to appoint the NHRC officials has made the national rights body inactive.

According to them, 870 complaints are currently pending due to the absence of the members and the chief.

The posts had fallen vacant after the NHRC’s former chairperson Nayan Bahadur Khatri and members resigned seven months ago after the parliament initiated an impeachment process against them.

Though the Council of Ministers decided to appoint former Chief Justice Bishwonath Upadhyaya the NHRC chairman and former administrator Dr Lila Pathak and rights activist Gauri Pradhan the members, the appointment was stalled after Maoists opposed the decision.

NHRC officials feel that its composition and the appointment of the commissioners should be established in accordance with Paris Principle with a procedure, which “affords all necessary guarantees to ensure the pluralist representation of social forces involved in the protection and promotion of human rights.”

“Some 870 files are waiting for decision in the absence of commissioners,” officiating secretary at the NHRC, Dhruba Nepal, said at an interaction on “interim constitution, NHRC and Paris Principles”, today.

NHRC officials also demanded that the commission be vested with competence to protect and promote human rights with a “broad mandate”, which shall be clearly set forth in a constitutional or legislative text, “specifying its composition and its sphere of competence.”

Appointment of commissioners, as stated in the interim constitution, by the prime minister has been a weakness, Nepal said. President of Nepal Bar Association (NBA) Biswokanta Mainali, emphasised that the NHRC has to be independent. CPN-UML leader Bhim Rawal raised serious concern over the delay in appointments of commissioners. Former NHRC member, Sudip Pathak suggested amendments in the interim constitution.