The committee to recommend office bearers of the two transitional justice commissions has called applications from the aspirants for the chairpersons and members of the two bodies.

Issuing a public notice on Friday, the committee has allotted seven days for the candidates to apply in the positions of two chairs and eight members in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons.

“One can file an application for chairperson or member of either of the commissions at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs within seven days after the publication of the notice,” reads the notice.

As per the recent amendment to the Enforced Disappeared Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, a person qualified to be a Supreme Court justice is eligible to become chairperson of either of the commissions. Those who are eligible to become members must be qualified to be a high court judge. Each commission will have five members led by a chairperson. The provision of organisational recommendation and selection by the committee itself was included as renowned figures might not be willing to apply for positions in the commissions.

After completing the collection of the aspirants’ name, the committee led by former chief justice Om Prakash Mishra will publish the short-list of probable candidates after evaluating their resumes and backgrounds. Interested people can send their feedback in the short-list.

Along with the collection of public feedback, the committee will also ask the candidates to make presentations, and carry out other necessary tasks before selecting the candidates for appointment, as per its working procedure.

The stakeholders, however, claim that presentations and public feedback alone are insufficient. The victims of the 1996-2006 conflict and human rights activists have demanded mandatory public hearings for shortlisted candidates before making the nominations.

The Accountability Watch Committee, a network of human rights defenders, has said it would be appropriate to establish a provision for public hearings with representative participation from the media, the victims’ community and civil society, where the individuals on the shortlist would be required to make presentations.

The Mishra-led five-member panel is making preparations to nominate the candidates within a month.

The two commissions have remained defunct since July 2022, when the government extended their terms without retaining their chairmen and members. The government claimed the bill to amend the transitional justice law would be endorsed by October 2022, and the appointments would be made based on the revised Act.

However, the federal parliament took over two years to endorse the bill. The victims and human rights defenders are now closely watching who will be appointed to the commissions.

The amended Act sets four years’ term for the two transitional justice commissions to investigate the cases and recommend prosecution and reparation. However, there is a possibility of term extension if they fail to accomplish their tasks in the given time.

The truth commission has received 63,718 complaints, while the commission on disappearances is sitting on around 2,400 cases. The commissions, first formed in 2015, have done little beyond collecting complaints and conducting preliminary investigations on some cases.