A rift in the National Human Rights Commission has deepened to the point that one member has threatened to resign if the commission’s secretary continues to overstep his authority.

Lily Thapa, the commission’s only woman member, has long complained that Secretary Murari Kharel, the head of the commission’s bureaucracy, has been obstructing her initiatives.

The deep-seated resentment erupted on Friday after Kharel opposed her proposal to conduct a study on child marriage and the right age for marriage.

“The study on child marriage is just one of several plans the secretary has been blocking. On Friday, Thapa threatened to resign and expose Kharel to the media if his interventionist attitude does not change,” a senior official privy to the developments told the Post.

At least three officials at the constitutional human rights watchdog confirmed Friday’s standoff. They said that, with the backing of Chairperson Top Bahadur Magar, Kharel has started enforcing his own rules, not only on the staff but even on commission members who are senior to him.

“Magar and Kharel are running the commission as their private entity. Now at least Thapa has dared to challenge it,” said another senior official at the commission.

Following Friday’s heated exchange, another meeting has been called for Sunday to resolve the matter. If things are not resolved, Thapa will be resigning in a couple of days after a press meet, sources close to her said.

Talking to the Post, Thapa said there were some differences but she would not comment now.

Not just Thapa, other members and officials at the commission are also unhappy with the attitude of Kharel, who is being backed by Magar. Senior officials at the commission accuse him of going on unnecessary foreign trips and even interfering in financial dealings.

Multiple phone calls and text messages to Kharel were unanswered.

The Magar-led five-member commission has four members after Surya Dhungel resigned from his position in the third week of September after the KP Sharma Oli government was ousted by the Gen Z revolt. Dhungel argued that new people should lead the commission in the changed context.

This is not the first time Kharel has courted controversy. His promotion as the secretary was marred in dispute with one of the commission’s members registering a note of dissent. His appointment was even challenged in the Supreme Court.

Based on the scores given by a three-member selection committee led by its member Dhungel, four of the five commissioners, including chief commissioner Magar, on October 30 last year had recommended the government promote Kharel to a secretary.

The Dhungel-led committee had given equal marks to Kharel and Yagya Adhikari, a joint secretary at the commission. But Kharel was recommended for the position citing better performance during an interview and a presentation. Mihir Thakur, a commissioner, had objected to the decision.

Thakur had written a letter to then-prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, asking him to refrain from appointing Kharel as the secretary, accusing him of misusing resources and engaging in irregularities at the commission. In October, he took to Facebook to say that Kharel needs to be sacked as he had protected an official accused of sexual harassment.

Disputes among the commissioners at the national rights body are not uncommon. In 2010–11, then commissioners Leela Pathak and KB Rokaya had a nasty feud that hampered the performance of the constitutional panel.

Although it didn’t come to public view, there were serious differences among the office bearers in the previous team led by Anup Raj Sharma. On occasions Sharma had criticised the activities of some of his commissioners without naming them.

History has repeated itself.