New Delhi, July 23 - The appointment of two members of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was challenged in the Delhi High Court Thursday.

Terming the appointment of Sandhya Bajaj and Dipa Dixit 'illegal' and 'arbitrary', an NGO, Association for Development, in its petition contended that their appointment violated the law. The new members did not have requisite qualification and expertise as required under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, it said.

'The act of the government in appointing them as members of the commission is illegal, arbitrary and smacks of nepotism and favouritism in public appointments,' advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, said before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah.

The court, however, refused to hear the matter and said it should be heard by a different bench. It also said the commission was doing good work despite these allegations.