Madras High Court orders issue of notice to authorities

Madras High Court on Tuesday orally instructed S Akshayakumar and G Rajagopal not to pass orders as Chairman and member respectively of Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission.

A Division Bench Comprising Justice Aruna Jagadeesan and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana while admitting a petition filed by G Rasool, an advocate, seeking to quash the appointment of Akshayakumar and Rajagopal, posted the matter for further hearing to December 9.

"The appointment of S Akshyakumar as chairman of TNERC is barred by time as it has not provided the recommendation within three months as per the requirements under section 85(3) of the Electricity Act,2003 and also as per the point of reference", the petitioner said.

The Selection Committee has not recommended the names of panel of two persons for consideration by the Government to appoint any one among them as Chairman of TNERC. Only by recommending Akshayakumar a single name the selection committee has not justified its functions in terms of its mandatory requirement, the petitioner alleged.

The Selection Committee has greatly erred in recommending only a single name contrary to the provisions of the Electricity Act and hence the entire selection process for the position of appointment of Chairman lacks transparency, the petitioner conttended.

Even in the appointment of G Rajagopal as the member TNERC also the violation in procedure is found noticed, the petitioner contended.