Lt Governor scraps appointment of DERC chairperson

Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Wednesday scrapped the appointment of Krishna Saini as Chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) and asked the government to start the selection process from the beginning as per the law.

Former chief income tax commissioner Krishna Saini was appointed the DERC chairman in March this year by the Delhi government.

A statement from the LG office said that the Delhi government had constituted a selection committee to select the chairperson and members of DERC without the approval of Lt. Governor, which is mandated as per rules.

"As the constitution of the selection committee as well as the appointment of the chairperson DERC was done without putting up the matter to the Lt. Governor for his views and concurrence, the entire process of appointment of DERC chairperson has been vitiated right from the beginning and suffers from serious legal infirmities," the statement said.

"In the given circumstances, the appointment of DERC chairperson has been declared as void, ab initio (to be treated as invalid from the outset )," the statement added.

The LG office also directed the elected government to initiate the process for selection of DERC chairperson de-novo (from the beginning) immediately, in accordance with law.

--IANS

am/rn