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On the last date of hearing, CJI Chandrachud had said that he was inclined to appoint somebody on a pro-tem basis and such person could continue till the dispute on the GNCTD Amendment ordinance, 2023 was decided by a Constitution bench.
The Supreme Court on Friday appointed Justice Jayant Nath, former judge of the Delhi High Court as Chairman for the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).
A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra took the decision to appoint Justice Nath after a joint request was made in this regard by the Delhi Government and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
"The Delhi CM and Lieutenant Governor may jointly decide in consultation with Mr Nath, the honorarium payable to him...", further ordered the bench.
ASG Sanjay Jain went on to apprise the bench that Justice Nath had immense experience as a lawyer on electricity matters.
Last month, the Supreme Court had observed that it would appoint a Chairman for the DERC on a pro-tem basis as the Delhi Government and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena were unable to agree upon a name for the same.
Notably, on Monday (July 17), the court had directed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and the Lieutenant Governor to set aside their political differences and come up with a name for the Chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).
"Can we allow the DERC to become functional, both these constitutional functionaries may sit together and come up with a name..either you allow them to function, you have to come up from political bickering..", the CJI had orally observed then.
The Supreme Court on July 4, 2023 had issued notice on a plea by GNCTD challenging the decision of Delhi 's Lieutenant Governor to appoint retired Justice Umesh Kumar as chairman of the DERC.
Referring to Section 45(D) of the GNCTD Act, Singhvi had then said, "..this has to be stayed..delhi is governed by such boards..the government gives upto 200 free units of electricity, they want to appoint their own chairman and stop this free electricity..".
Court was further told that the petition raises a point of law regarding the validity of Section 45D, as amended by the latest Ordinance issued by the Centre, which gives overriding powers to the Lieutenant Governor over the elected government.
Case Title: GNCTD Vs UOI
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