NEW DELHI: A day after the Supreme Court’s advice to rise above bickering and build a consensus to name the chief of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena are likely to meet on Wednesday.
Kejriwal was away in Bengaluru for the Opposition meeting on Monday and Tuesday. “Does everything have to be run through SC modalities? Can’t the L-G & CM give the name of an agreed candidate? They are two constitutional functionaries. They have to rise above political bickering. We don’t want to step into this. We want you to sit down and make this work,” the SC said on Monday. The SC will take up the issue again on Thursday.
The post of the DERC chairman assumes significance since the regulator decides the power tariff in the national capital. The post has been lying vacant since January this year amid differences between the ruling AAP in the city and the L-G.
Kejriwal in January recommended the name of retired high court judge Justice (retd) Rajeev Kumar Srivastava for the post. However, Srivastava in June refused to take up the job citing personal reasons. Then on June 21, Kejriwal recommended the name of Justice (retd) Sangeet Lodha.
However, the Centre, through a notification, appointed Justice (retd) Umesh Kumar on June 21. The Delhi government quashed the notification and challenged the constitutionality of Section 45D of the GNCTD (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, based on which the appointment was made.
The AAP government opposed the appointment as “illegal and unconstitutional”, saying electricity is a transferred subject falling under the jurisdiction of the elected government of a state or Union Territory.
On July 3, the oath-taking ceremony of DERC chairperson-designate Justice (retd) Umesh Kumar was postponed ostensibly due to the health issue of Power Minister Atishi. The next day, the Supreme Court ordered to defer the oath-taking ceremony till July 11.
The L-G wrote to the CM saying the city government can either administer the oath of office through video conferencing or the formalities can be completed by the chief minister or any other minister, or the chief secretary.