The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday indicated that it may appoint a pro tem chairperson to discharge the functions of a Delhi Electricity Regulatory (DERC) Commission chairperson for “a little while” after the Delhi government and Lieutenant-Governor failed to reach a consensus on a name.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud said it needed time to consult possible candidates, who would be former High Court judges, and zero in on a name. The court listed the case on August 4.
The court said it has been compelled to intervene as the DERC has remained headless for months now due to the ongoing impasse between the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) and the Delhi government.
The Bench clarified that the person it nominates would only discharge the functions of a DERC chairperson on an ad-hoc basis.
“We can appoint somebody on a protem basis and request that person to do this assignment until the matter is finally disposed of,” the Bench observed.
The Delhi government, represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi and advocate Shadan Farasat, had approached the top court, criticising the L-G of stalling the appointment of the DERC head for months, and finally, choosing his own candidate as the DERC head. On July 4, the Supreme Court had stepped in to defer the swearing in of former Allahabad High Court judge, Justice Umesh Kumar, as DERC chairperson.
The Delhi government has also separately challenged the validity of Delhi Ordinance giving the L-G power over civil services and appointments in tribunals and commissions. The Supreme Court referred the challenge to the Ordinance to a Constitution Bench on Thursday.
In the previous hearing, the court had urged the L-G and the Delhi Chief Minister to rise above their “political bickering” and sit together to reach a consensus on a name for appointment as the DERC chairperson.
On Thursday, Mr. Singhvi informed the court that there has been no respite in the deadlock.
Mr. Singhvi sought at least a week to get instructions from the Delhi government on the court’s proposal to appoint a person as DERC head.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the L-G, and Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre, however said they had no objections to the court nominating a person to serve as DERC head.
“I cannot understand why my friends cannot wait for one week for me to get instructions?” Mr. Singhvi asked.
“We will give that much of time… What we will do is, we will stand this over. Meanwhile, we will find out a few names, consult former judges of the High Courts… We will make it clear to that person that we are not appointing you for three or five years… We will just say you do this for a little while until the pending matters are disposed off,” CJI Chandrachud observed.
The court refused to accept any list from either side. “Suppose we appoint somebody from your list, they will have an objection. Suppose we appoint somebody from their list, you will have a problem. We will not look at any list. We will take a call,” the CJI told the L-G and the Delhi government.
