New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday an important petition of the Delhi government challenging the appointment of the chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission. A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud is scheduled to hear today Delhi government’s plea challenging the appointment of chairman of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal late on Monday evening to administer the oath to retired Justice Umesh Kumar, who has been appointed as the new chairman of DERC, and hand over the office by 10 am. The tussle over the power to appoint the DERC chairman escalated after the Centre’s May 19 ordinance, which gave the President the power to make appointments to all statutory bodies and authorities in Delhi. The posts of the DERC chairman and two other members of the commission are vacant since this January, after the Delhi government approached the Supreme Court in April seeking an order on the lieutenant governor to clear the candidate approved by the Delhi cabinet.
The Kejriwal government challenged the amendment to Section 45 of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act through the ordinance, saying the appointment of Justice Umesh Kumar (retd) by the Lieutenant Governor was “illegal and unconstitutional”. The Delhi government argued that since the DERC is responsible for regulating power generators and discoms, along with setting electricity tariffs for households and industries in the national capital, any decision would have “strong social and financial implications and would There will be a direct impact.
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There has been a deadlock between the Delhi government and the LG over the appointment of important posts lying vacant since January. Former Deputy CM Manish Sosodia had approved the appointment of Justice Rajvi Kumar Srivastava as DERC Chairman on a file. However, the LG returned the file saying that the government should also consult the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court for the appointment. After this, the Delhi government approached the court on 12 April.
