TN appoints retd district judge Mohan as member of TNERC

CHENNAI: The State government has appointed retired district judge B Mohan as a member (legal) of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC), which had been lying vacant for more than six months.

According to the government order dated January 6, the appointment was made based on the recommendation of the selection committee comprising retired judge V Bharathidasan, Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu and Central Electricity Authority Chairman Ghanshyam Prasad.

The committee had submitted two names and retired district judge Mohan was selected after deliberations. The non-appointment of the member (legal) of TNERC was cited by the industries association to challenge the commission's recent tariff order in the Madras High court and the Supreme Court.

The member (legal) post has been lying vacant since May last year when former member K Venkatasamy's tenure ended. The State government constituted a selection committee headed by retired justice K Chandru and they had recommended two persons for the post but the government rejected it. The government later constituted another panel headed by retired judge V Bharathidasan.

Meanwhile, the Joint Action Committee of TNEB Trade Unions has decided to take a call on the January 10 strike after the meeting with the panel on the wage agreement on January 9. "We will decide on the strike based on the outcome of January 9 wage settlement talks, " the JAC said.