Delhi LG, CM Kejriwal to meet tomorrow to decide new DERC chairperson

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and LG V K Saxena will meet on Wednesday to decide on the appointment of DERC chairman for which the AAP dispensation has furnished three names, official sources said.

The Supreme Court had on Monday asked the two constitutional functionaries to rise above ''political bickering'' and discuss who could head the national capital's power regulator. The court will take up the issue for consideration again on Thursday.

The Delhi government has furnished three names before the Lieutenant Governor. The government has also received a communication from the LG office regarding the meeting on Wednesday, government sources said. The meeting could not take place so far as Kejriwal was in Bengaluru to attend a meeting of non-BJP opposition parties.

The post of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairman assumes significance since the regulator decides the power tariff in the national capital. The post has been lying vacant since January amid the differences between the AAP dispensation and the LG office over the new appointment.

Kejriwal in January recommended the name of retired High Court judge Rajeev Kumar Srivastava for the post. However, Srivastava in June excused himself from taking charge citing personal reasons. The chief minister on June 21 recommended the name of Justice (retd) Sangeet Lodha as the new DERC chairperson. Meanwhile, the Centre through a notification appointed Justice (retd) Umesh Kumar to the post. The AAP dispensation opposed the appointment as ''illegal and unconstitutional'', saying 'electricity' is a transferred subject falling under the jurisdiction of the elected government of a state or Union Territory. The Aam Aadm Party (AAP) later moved the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of Justice (retd) Kumar.