Supreme Court to appoint DERC chairperson: What is the Delhi govt, L-G tussle over the post

Source: The post is based on the article “Supreme Court to appoint DERC chairperson: What is the Delhi govt, L-G tussle over the post”  published in Indian Express on 28th July 2023

What is the News?

The Supreme Court has said that it will appoint a chairperson for the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on an ad hoc basis.

This order comes since the Delhi government and Lieutenant Governor (L-G) failed to arrive at a consensus on the name.

What is the issue between the Delhi government and Lieutenant Governor (L-G) over the DERC Chairman appointment?

The post of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairperson fell vacant. After this, the Delhi government appointed a retired judge for the post and sent the file to L-G.

The LG office returned the file asking that a legal opinion on the appointment be sought from the Delhi High Court Chief Justice. 

The Delhi government went to Delhi High Court against this. The court ruled in its favour and said that the Lieutenant Governor cannot suppress a government like this and asked that the new chief be appointed in two weeks’ time.

In the meantime, the Centre promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance which said that appointments of chiefs of autonomous commissions and boards will be done by the President. This power is usually delegated to the L-G as the administrator.

Based on this ordinance, the President appointed the Chairperson of DERC. The Delhi government challenged this decision in the Supreme Court.

It said that since power was a transferred subject falling under the jurisdiction of the elected government of a state or a Union territory, the Centre did not have the right to make an appointment.

The matter was then heard by the Supreme Court which stayed the appointment.

What is happening now?

Since the Delhi government and L-G have not been able to suggest a common candidate for DERC Chairperson, the Supreme Court has decided to make an appointment as an “ad-hoc” measure.