The Supreme Court has directed two members of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to go on leave until a law member is appointed to the commission. As per rule, the law member should have been appointed before any other member was.
The order has been passed by a bench comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, Ajay Rastogi, and Aniruddha Bose in a contempt petition filed by KK Agarwal, against non-appointment of a law member to the Commission.
The plea was moved seeking enforcement of a 2018 verdict of the Supreme Court wherein the apex court ruled that it was mandatory to appoint a person of law as a member of the Commission. That particular position requires a person, who is, or has been holding a judicial office or is a person possessing professional qualifications with substantial experience in the practice of law, who has the requisite qualifications to have been appointed as a judge of the High Court or a District Judge.
The apex court, however, made clear the order is not a reflection on the merits of the persons so appointed, Member-Technical I S Jha and Member-Finance Arun Goyal, but it is necessary to ensure the true intent and spirit of its earlier order is adhered to.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the procedure for appointing a person of law is expected to be concluded during the month of September 2020. He also made submissions that the two members who were appointed after the 2018 verdict shall be asked to proceed on leave till the appointment of law members. Apart from Jha and Goyal as Members, CERC currently has Chairperson PK Pujari. The commission's Conduct of Business Regulations prescribes a minimum quorum of two.