A temporary truce at the National Human Rights Commission has halted the resignation of commissioner Lily Thapa following an agreement to ensure she can carry out her duties without interference.

Thapa, the only woman member of the constitutional human rights watchdog, had sent an email to Commission chair Top Bahadur Magar two weeks ago, stating that she was resigning because she was not being allowed to work freely. She had accused Secretary Murari Kharel, the head of the commission’s bureaucracy, of obstructing her initiatives.

“I have been assured of no obstruction in my initiatives in the future,” said Thapa, hinting at the truce. Officials privy to the development say Magar had assured there would be no barrier for her to function. He had told Thapa that Kharel would cooperate in her plans and work.

The deep-seated resentment had burst on December 5 after Kharel opposed Thapa’s proposal to conduct a study on child marriage and the right age for marriage. Kharel, according to the officials, had threatened not to release the budget for the study following which Thapa had threatened to expose him publicly.

She had also talked about the alleged interventionist nature of the secretary to former member Surya Dhungel and others in the human rights fraternity. Dhungel, who was the second in rank after Magar, resigned from his position in the third week of September after the KP Sharma Oli government was ousted by the Gen Z revolt arguing that new people should lead the commission in the changed context.

Officials at the commission have long been complaining that Kharel, a close confidant of Magar, controls the constitutional commission. Even members of the commission are left unheard, they said. “This tendency has even increased after Dhungel’s exit,” said a senior official at the commission.

The Magar-led five-member commission has been reduced to four members after Dhungel’s resignation. If the claims from commission’s officials are anything to go by, there has been a pattern of withholding approvals for plans, or even stopping the release of budget, for programmes proposed by commission members.

As Nepal government has long been preparing to introduce a legislation to lower the age of marriage from existing 20 years, Thapa has been pushing for a study on the matter, which was subsequently obstructed. Likewise, a project related to transitional justice too failed to move ahead due to what officials described as non-cooperation by Magar and Kharel.

Kharel has been dragged into controversy even before his appointment as secretary. His promotion as secretary was marred in dispute with one of the commission 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 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 to then-prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, asking him to refrain from appointing Kharel as secretary, accusing him of misusing resources and engaging in irregularities at the commission. He had even said publicly that Kharel needs to be sacked as he had protected an official accused of sexual harassment.

As per the informed sources, he had suggested Thapa to demand Kharel’s resignation instead of resigning herself and he would stand firmly if she does so.

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.