As Delhi LG and CM fail to agree, Supreme Court appoints ad hoc chairperson for DERC.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has announced that it will appoint an ad hoc chairperson for the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) after the Lieutenant Governor (LG) and the Chief Minister of Delhi failed to reach a consensus on the issue. The court expressed its dismay over the deadlock between the two constitutional functionaries and noted that the institution is currently headless. The discussions between the Chief Minister and the LG did not yield any results, according to the counsel for the Delhi government. The court has asked the parties to provide names of retired judges from the Delhi High Court for consideration as the DERC chairperson.

Earlier, the Delhi government had challenged the appointment of former Allahabad High Court judge Justice Umesh Kumar as the DERC chairperson, stating that it was made unilaterally by the LG without the government’s concurrence. The Delhi government argued that this action by the LG is against a Supreme Court judgment and the spirit of Article 239AA of the Constitution. The court noted that the petition raises a point of law regarding the validity of Section 45D of the GNCTD Act, which gives overriding powers to the LG over the elected government in the matter of appointments.

The appointment of the DERC chairperson has been a contentious issue between the LG and the Delhi government. The Chief Minister had approved Justice (retd.) Rajeev Shrivastava for the position, but the LG recommended consulting with the Delhi High Court Chief Justice as well. Justice Shrivastava later expressed his inability to accept the appointment due to family commitments. The Delhi government approached the Supreme Court, blaming the LG for the delay in the appointment. The court directed the government to appoint the DERC chairperson within two weeks.

The Supreme Court’s decision to appoint an ad hoc chairperson for the DERC will provide temporary leadership to the institution. However, the larger issue of the appointment process and the powers of the LG and the elected government needs to be resolved to ensure the smooth functioning of the regulatory commission. The court’s intervention in this matter highlights the importance of maintaining a balance of power and cooperation between constitutional functionaries for effective governance.