SC allows Justice Jayant Nath to continue as DERC chairperson

The Supreme Court allowed Justice Jayant Nath to remain in office as Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairperson despite attaining a retirement age of 65 years.

After the Delhi Lt Governor and Chief Minister failed to reach a consensus on who should head the electricity tariff regulatory body, a bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud nominated Justice Jayant Nath, a former judge of the Delhi High Court to discharge the duties of the office of DERC Chairperson.

The top court clarified that Justice Nath will continue to discharge his



functions as DERC chairperson despite having crossed the age of 65 years.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi LG to not administer the oath of office to the newly appointed DERC Chairman Justice Umesh Kumar, a former judge of Allahabad High Court.

In June last year, L-G V.K. Saxena appointed Justice (Retd) Umesh Kumar as the DERC Chairman ignoring Delhi’s government’s recommendation to appoint retired Madhya Pradesh High Court judge, Justice Rajeev Kumar Shrivastava.