On Friday, the Supreme Court gave notice of a writ petition brought by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) challenging the Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s failure to act on the nomination of Justice Rajeev Kumar Shrivastava, a retired judge from the MP High Court, as the Chairperson of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).
Senior Attorney Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi informed a Bench made up of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha that four months have gone since the proposal was given to the LG on the advice of Advocate on Record Shadan Farasat, who was representing the GNCTD.
He claimed that the LG is delaying action by claiming that he needed legal advice to determine whether the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court would concur.
Singhvi emphasised that in accordance with Section 84(2) of the Electricity Act, communication with the Chief Justice of the applicant’s parent High Court is necessary.
According to CJI Chandrachud, “Chief Justice of that High Court” in the section refers to the CJ of the High Court where the individual served as a judge. When CJI questioned Singhvi about the selection process for the previous Chairperson (Justice Shabihul Hasnain, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court), Singhvi responded that the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court was consulted.
“Look at the absurd result. Delhi is home to the DERC. Singhvi said, “We will have to ask the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court for every appointment from Kerala or Allahabad.
CJI questioned, “How will the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court know those names?”
Singhvi asked for a shorter deadline after the bench decided to issue the notice because they believed the LG was about to appoint someone else to the position. He declared, “After purposefully short-circuiting us by being silent for four months, they are seeking to designate someone and have forwarded some file to the learned Chief Justice. After that, the bench decided to post the case for next Friday.
HARDIK SHARMA, B.COM LLB
