Administration of oath to Justice Umesh Kumar as DERC chairperson stands deferred: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred the oath taking ceremony of DERC chairperson-designate Justice (retd) Umesh Kumar and sought responses from the Centre and the office of the Lieutenant Governor on a plea of the Delhi government challenging the law governing such an appointment. “The administering of oath to the former judge of Allahabad High Court (as DERC chairperson) stands deferred,” said a bench comprising Chief justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha.

The top court also issued notices to the Centre and the office of the LG on the plea which also challenged the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs appointing Justice Kumar as the DERC (Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission) chairperson.

The court has now fixed the plea of the Delhi government for hearing on July 11 and asked the Centre and others to file their responses to the petition a day before. On July 3, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had advised Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to complete the oath taking exercise of Justice Kumar through video conferencing, after the event was postponed due to Power Minister Atishi’s ”ill health”. The appointment of the DERC chairperson has led to a power tussle between the Delhi government and the office of the LG.