Justice Jayant Nath the former Delhi High Court judge took oath as the chairperson of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC)
The oath of office to Justice Nath was administered by Delhi power minister Atishi.
The appointment of Justice Nath to DERC is pursuant to a Supreme Court order as his appointment is for a temporary period till the Supreme Court decides the ongoing dispute between the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) regarding the Delhi Services Act of 2023.
Justice Nath holds a BA (Economics) degree from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University and completed his LL.B. from Faculty of Law, Delhi University in 1982.
In 2006,Justice Nath was designated as Senior Advocate of the High Court. He was appointed an additional judge of the Delhi High Court on April 17, 2013 while he became permanent judge on March 18, 2015. He retired from Delhi High Court in November 2021.
On August 4, a Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra had appointed Justice Nath to head DERC temporarily.
“We request Justice Jayant Nath to be the DERC Chairperson, former Delhi HC judge. Since the judge is amidst other work including arbitration. Since the nature of the appointment is pro tem, the LG and CM shall in consultation with Justice Nath shall notify the honorarium payable,” the Court said.
The Court had also remarked that the judge was dispassionate and above all controversy.
The order was passed on a plea by the Delhi government challenging the appointment of Justice Umesh Kumar to the post.
The plea said that Justice Kumar’s appointment was made on the basis of the Delhi Services Ordinance, which was under challenge on ground that it flouts the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench judgment on control of services in Delhi.
On July 4, the Court had deferred the swearing-in of Justice Kumar.
During a subsequent hearing on July 17, the top court had urged the LG of Delhi and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led government to jointly suggest a name for the chairperson.
However, since they could not arrive at a consensus on this issue, the Court decided to appoint Justice Nath as ad hoc chairperson.