Even as Karnataka’s citizens are looking to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission to adjudicate a bearable increase in electricity charges, a petition has been filed before the commission questioning its composition.
The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has two members and a chairman.
The current chairman, M.R. Srinivasamurthy, was formerly additional secretary (finance) and was appointed to the KERC after taking voluntary retirement. The other two members were also senior government officials.
The regulatory commission is a judicial body with the same powers as a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 (Central Act 5 of 1908) for obtaining information and evidence.
A petition moved by Sree Rayalaseema Alkalies & Allied Chemical Ltd, a public limited company, has cited a Supreme Court order that says: “Only the High Court Judges, or Judges who have served in the rank of a District Judge for at least five years or a person who has practiced as a Lawyer for ten years can be considered for appointment as a Judicial Member.”
Since the present commission does not have the required judicial composition, the petitioner has now asked for an arbitrator. “Given the composition of the commission, the matter can be best resolved by referring to arbitration,” the petition stated.
Experts in matters of law have even questioned the power of the present KERC to hold public meetings.
“The commission doesn’t have any legal member on its panel. Hence the orders passed by the present commission do not fully meet the requirements of that of a judicial body. And going by the Supreme Court order, they don’t have the power to hear even the present tariff orders,” said Advocate Shridhar Prabhu.
With government officials and former bureaucrats making up the commission, there are also doubts about whether unbiased judgements are being passed.