NEW DELHI: Delhi power minister Atishi, who was scheduled to administer the oath of office to Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairperson-designate Justice (retd) Umesh Kumar on Monday, suddenly faced a “health issue” leading to the postponement of the event to July 6, officials said.
Kumar, the former Allahabad High Court judge, was appointed chairman of the DERC on June 21. The AAP dispensation has challenged his appointment in the Supreme Court.
The appointment of DERC chairman is the latest flashpoint between the Delhi government and the lieutenant governor’s office, following the Centre’s ordinance on control of services. The AAP has also challenged the ordinance in the apex court.
According to the Raj Niwas officials, Atishi wrote to the chairman-designate and asked for his availability to take the oath in her presence. “He accordingly confirmed the same,” they said. Later, the event was postponed after Atishi took ill, the officials said.
The Delhi government, in a statement, said, “Power Minister Atishi had come to office today and her schedule included the event to administer the oath to the DERC chairperson-designate. However, she suddenly faced a health issue due to which all her meetings and official engagements (including the administering of oath to DERC chairman-designate) had to be postponed.”
The oath-taking ceremony of the new DERC chairperson has been rescheduled for the coming Thursday, the statement added. Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on June 27 flagging the ‘unnecessary delay’ in administering the oath of office to the former judge. Sources said Kejriwal forwarded the letter to Atishi the same day and asked her to administer the oath “as early as possible”. In her communication to Justice Kumar last week, Atishi blamed the Power Department for the confusion over the delay in the oath-taking ceremony.
All meetings postponed after ‘sudden health issue’
According to officials, Atishi wrote to the chairman-designate and asked for his availability to take the oath in her presence. “He accordingly confirmed the same,” they said. Later, the event was postponed after Atishi took ill. The government said, “Power Minister Atishi came to the office today and her schedule included the event to administer the oath to the DERC chairperson-designate. However, she suddenly faced a health issue due to which all her meetings (including administering of oath to DERC chairman-designate) were postponed.”