ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Tuesday proposed 65 years as the retirement age for the chairperson and members of the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR).

The recommendation came during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights, which reviewed National Commission Human Rights (Amendment) Bill 2012, moved by MNA Mohammad Muzammil Qureshi.

The mover argued that the bill did not specify the age of the chairperson and members of the NCHR.

“An age limit must be set to engage preferably younger head and officials to take important decisions concerning human rights issues in the country,” he said.

Most members of the committee were in favour of setting the age limit at 65 years. The committee believed that the applicant should be ideally 61 years old to apply for the four-year term as the chairperson.

The meeting was informed that the current law also required that the eligible candidate must be a retired judge of the Supreme Court or qualified to become a judge of the apex court or anyone with significant knowledge and ample experience in the field of human rights.

MNA Babar Nawaz Khan of the PML-N said it was necessary to give an opportunity to qualified and experienced candidates to improve the functions of the NCHR.

MNA Sajid Nawaz of the PTI said despite the experience the thought process became clouded in the old age.

The younger the chairperson and the members the better and more energetic the organisation would become, he said.

MNA Alya Kamran of the JUIF echoed along similar lines when she said: “There are plenty of young qualified individuals who could contribute more.”

Keeping in view the recommendations of the members, committee chairman Babar Nawaz Khan directed the Ministry of Human Rights to make the necessary amendments to the bill.

The committee deferred discussion on the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection Bill 2017 and the National Commission for Human Rights Act 2012 until its next meeting.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2017