SC appoints former Delhi HC judge Justice Jayant Nath as interim chairperson of power regulator DERC

Supreme Court appoints Justice Jayant Nath as interim chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). The office had been vacant for 6 months.

The Supreme Court has appointed former judge of Delhi High Court Justice Jayant Nath as the interim chairperson of power regulator Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).

The office of the DERC chairperson has been vacant for over six months.

The Delhi government had initially approved the appointment of retired Madhya Pradesh High Court judge, Justice Rajeev Shrivastava, as chairperson. However, Justice Shrivastava’s file remained pending in the L-G office for so long that the retired judge withdrew his assent.

Shortly after this, the Centre promulgated the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 on May 19. The Ordinance gave the L-G the final say in appointments to Commissions and Tribunals in the National Capital. This was despite a May 11 Constitution Bench verdict which had trimmed the L-G’s discretion to three areas—police, public order and land—in Delhi.

The Delhi government accused the Centre of using the ordinance to notify the appointment of former Allahabad High Court judge, Justice Umesh Kumar, as DERC chairperson. The AAP regime said the Central notification appointing Justice Kumar was issued on the same day the Delhi government named Justice (retired) Sangeet Lodha as its second choice as DERC chairperson.

Justice Kumar’s swearing-in was however deferred by the Supreme Court on July 4.