Electricity Minister Senthil Balaji recently announced that electricity tariff will be increased in Tamil Nadu. There has been opposition to this from various quarters.
Consultation meeting
In the meantime, some people including the Chief Counsel of Tamil Nadu Noopalayas Association K. Venkatachalam had said in the petition filed in the Madurai High Court:-
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission shall have a Chairman and 2 members. At present there are only Chairman and Technical Member. A member from the legal department has not been appointed.
In this situation, a petition was filed in the Regulatory Commission on behalf of the Power Board seeking permission to increase the electricity tariff of Tamil Nadu. The regulatory authority has accepted the petition and is conducting public hearings.
It is illegal for the Disciplinary Commission to meet when there is only one chairman and one member. Therefore, until the appointment of a member from the legal department in the Electricity Regulatory Commission, there should be a ban on taking decisions on tariff hikes and holding hearings.
This was stated in the petition.
Only one appointment
Judge G.R. Swaminathan heard the case and passed the order as follows:-
Venkatasamy has been appointed as the Legal Member of Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission on 17.2.2019. He retired on 5.5.2022. The technical member has resigned on March 17. A committee was formed to select a suitable person for this membership only. The committee has recommended 2 persons. The state government chose Venkatesan as technical member. He took charge on 18th of last month.
After this, the Chairman of the Commission, Chandrasekhar and Member Venkatesan, accepted the petitions related to the increase in electricity tariff of the Electricity Board. Consultation meetings are also being conducted accordingly. These cases have been filed against this.
Legal membership is mandatory
The advocates who appeared in the case on behalf of the petitioners said that it is against the Constitution and Supreme Court orders to take steps to increase the electricity tariff without a legal expert. It has been argued that while selecting and appointing a technical member of the Electricity Regulatory Commission, a member from the legal department may also be appointed to the post.
But on the part of the government, no action has been taken to increase the electricity tariff for many years. Delaying the action now taken can be dangerous. Therefore, it is stated that these petitions should be dismissed.
However, Article 144 of the Constitution states that all officers, civil and judicial, shall assist the Supreme Court. That is, it is the duty of the courts to follow the directions and orders of the Supreme Court. In that sense, the Supreme Court said that the presence of a legal member in a commission is mandatory.
When that is the case, it is not justified not to appoint such person. There is no restriction on the State Government to appoint persons to the above 2 posts simultaneously. But it didn’t.
Ban on fare hike
It is true that a judgment should not be interpreted as a law. But the Supreme Court’s directive that a commission should have a member with a legal background cannot be ignored. It is for this reason that, pending the appointment of a legal member in the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, I am restraining the passing of a final order on the petitions seeking sanction for the above tariff hike.
Current measures regarding power tariff hike may be continued. But as soon as the legal member is appointed, this injunction will lapse.
The petitioners are given one week time to submit their request to the concerned authority. This case is closed.
This is what the judge said in his order.