The Supreme Court of India on Monday sought a formal response from the Delhi government on a petition seeking the regular and timely appointment of the chairperson and members of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).
Agreeing to hear the plea, a division bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the counsel for the Delhi government to secure active instructions on the matter ahead of the next scheduled hearing next week.
The petition, filed by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Energy Watchdog, highlights a critical administrative vacuum in Delhi’s power regulatory body, which has allegedly paralyzed its adjudicatory functions and left consumer complaints against power distribution companies (DISCOMs) unheard.
The legal dispute stems from the Delhi government’s alleged failure to implement regular appointments, despite previous legal commitments and statutory requirements.
According to the petitioner, the Supreme Court had dealt with a separate petition in August last year, where it officially recorded an assurance from the Delhi government’s counsel that the process of making regular appointments to the DERC would be completed expeditiously.
The plea contends that despite this clear assurance, the explicit statutory provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, and a binding April 2018 Supreme Court verdict—which mandates the inclusion of a judicial member or a “person of law” in state electricity regulatory commissions—the Delhi government has failed to take steps to institute a regular appointment process.
The regulatory crisis deepened significantly following the superannuation of the former DERC Chairperson, Justice (retd) Umesh Kumar, in July 2025.
Representing the petitioner NGO in the apex court, Advocate Pranav Sachdeva argued that the current structural composition of the DERC is “wholly contrary to the law.” The commission currently functions without a chairperson or a judicial member, operating instead with only two pro tem (temporary) members.
The petition asserts that the persistent absence of a judicial member or person of law has “completely disabled the DERC from fulfilling its adjudicatory functions.”
To substantiate this claim, the plea pointed to an administrative notice and noting on the cause list dated July 15, 2025, published on the DERC website shortly after Justice (retd) Umesh Kumar’s retirement. The notice revealed that petitions and applications filed under Section 142 of the Electricity Act are no longer being listed or heard by the commission.
The petitioner argued that this administrative standstill directly violates consumers’ fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, effectively blocking their access to judicial redress for complaints against DISCOMs.
The plea also raised serious constitutional objections to the prolonged deployment of temporary administrators, arguing that such a setup compromises the statutory independence of the regulator. The Electricity Act requires State Electricity Regulatory Commissions to remain completely autonomous and free from governmental interference. Regular, tenured appointments, the petitioner argued, are essential to ensure impartiality in both regulatory and adjudicatory functions.
Challenging the continuation of the current temporary arrangement, the plea states:
“Since the pro tem members are operating solely pursuant to a temporary mechanism devised by this court in the interest of justice… the petitioner is constrained to approach this court to seek vacation of their appointments and to seek directions for the regular appointment process to be undertaken in accordance with law.”
The NGO further argued that using a pro tem mechanism as a permanent substitute for regular appointments is “constitutionally impermissible for being destructive of the basic structure principles of separation of power and adjudicatory independence.”
Through this petition, Energy Watchdog has sought specific directions from the Supreme Court:
- A direction ordering the Delhi government to file an affidavit explaining the concrete steps, if any, taken to comply with its August last year assurance to expeditiously complete regular appointments.
- A direction ordering the Delhi government to immediately constitute a selection committee to initiate and complete the regular appointment of the DERC chairperson and members.
The Supreme Court has posted the matter for further hearing next week.
