By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Friday questioned the delay in filling the post of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairman, lying vacant since September last, and sought an explanation from the state government.
The court also sought the file on Thursday’s appointment of J.P. Singh, the Delhi government’s present principal secretary, as a DERC member.
Singh’s name was finalised for appointment as commission’s member in place of S.R. Sethi, who is to retire on Jan 23.
“Produce the file relating to the appointment of the new member in the commission…” a division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Mammohan said, as it asked the government to explain the delay in appointment of DERC chairman after retirement of Brijender Singh.
Meanwhile, the court pulled up state government seeking an explanation for directing the commission to keep on hold its new power tariff for the city for 2010-11, but the counsel again failed to explain its reasons.
The issue of delay in DERC chairman’s appointment came up during its hearing as the petitioner, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nand Kishor Garg, alleged that the Delhi government has failed to follow the Delhi Electricity Act’s provisions under which a sitting or retired high court judge is entitled to be appointed as DERC chairman.
The court’s direction came during hearing of Garg’s petition linked to the city’s power tariff. The petition has sought directions to the government against interfering with the commission’s tariff fixation process.
Meanwhile, counsel for power distribution companies BSES and North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) submitted that they were running at a loss due to delay by DERC in fixing the tariff for 2010-11.
The counsel said about 60-70 percent revenues are spent on meeting power distribution costs, while 10 to 12 percent expenditure is incurred on maintenance, administrative expenses and paying staff salaries.
The bench earlier had rapped the city government and the commission for their ongoing tussle over fixing of new power tariff for the national capital.
Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati, who has been helping the court in the matter, had earlier said that the state government was not empowered to interfere with a DERC’s decision and could only issue guidelines to it for its consideration.
The bench earlier had directed the DERC members to convene a meeting and intimate it about their decision over the current year’s approved tariff. The bench had also sought to know of dissenting opinion on the issue, if any.