NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday appointed former Delhi high court judge Justice Vikram Nath as the interim chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). Taking note of the fact that the former judge was also involved in other work, a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra directed the Delhi chief minister and the Lieutenant-Governor to decide the remuneration pursuant to his consultation.
“Since the learned judge after demitting office is also engaged in other work and having regards to the nature of pro term basis of the post, the L-G and the CM in consultation with Justice Nath shall notify the honorarium payable,” the bench said in its order.
The top court on July 20 had decided to appoint an ad hoc chairperson amid the deadlock between Arvind Kejriwal and VK Saxena over the name. “Can you not between all of you pick one judge for DERC? This is embarrassing for us, we should not be doing this?” CJI DY Chandrachud had remarked.
Although initially the bench was of the view that the person (Justice Umesh Kumar) notified by the President can be intimated that his appointment would be subject to further directions of the top court but later decided to appoint someone on pro term basis. Earlier, the CJI had asked Kejriwal and Saxena to rise above political bickering and unanimously take a call on the chief.
How SC had to step in The SC decision came on Delhi government’s plea challenging the June 21 notification of the President appointing Justice Umesh Kumar as DERC chief. The government challenged an ordinance based on which the appointment was made. As the government and the L-G continued to differ, the SC stepped in.
