Cuttack, March 17: Orissa High Court has given the state one week to file a reply on the unusual delay in filling up the dual posts of a chairperson and a member in the Odisha Human Rights Commission.

The court set the deadline after the government had failed to file a response to a PIL expressing concern that the vacancy was affecting the commission's functioning. The posts have been lying vacant for over four years now.

Advocate Shivsankar Mohanty filed the PIL, seeking the court's intervention as the persisting vacancies was affecting disposal of pending the human rights violation cases.

On February 9, after a preliminary hearing on the petition, the court fixed the last week of March for hearing and issued notices seeking reply from the government and the commission registrar. The PIL came up for hearing on Wednesday. However, the counsels for the government and the commission sought more time to file their replies.

The division bench of Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice B.R. Sarangi allowed their plea and directed them to file responses within a week and posted the matter to after one week for hearing.

Law minister Arun Sahu told the Assembly on March 14 that the government was actively considering appointments of a chairperson and a member in the rights body. Replying to MLA Dilip Ray, he said the chairperson's post had been lying vacant since November 2012 and that of the member since April 2015.

Complaints of human rights violations in Odisha has increased recently. More than 6,000 cases of alleged violations are reportedly pending with the commission.

"With the piling up of cases day by day, the early disposal of cases has been affected. But, the government is not showing any interest or urgency in appointing a regular chairman or increasing the number of its members," the petitioner alleged.

The PIL said the commission started functioning in January 2003 with retired Supreme Court judge D.P. Mohapatra as chairperson and former chief secretary S.M. Patnaik as a member.

The chairperson's post has been lying vacant since the retirement of Justice R.K. Patra in 2012. Retired IAS officer R.N. Bhoidar, who was a commission member, then assumed additional charge of the chairperson for a year before he also retired. Subsequently, commission member Justice B.K. Mishra became acting chairperson in November 2013. Since then, he has been the only member and hearing cases.