Newdelhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from 15 states and the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh concerning a public interest litigation that argues their state electricity regulatory commissions are improperly constituted under the law. The legal challenge was brought by the NGO Energy Watchdog, which is pushing for strict adherence to the Electricity Act, 2003, along with a previous Supreme Court decision from April 2018 regarding how these panels must be structured.
A bench made up of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant alongside Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued formal notice on the lawsuit, which was brought to court by advocate Pranav Sachdeva. The petition highlights that extended vacancies and the failure to appoint a qualified legal professional across multiple commissions severely hinder the ability of consumers to access proper legal recourse.
According to the court filing, numerous statutory violations exist across the targeted jurisdictions, including lengthy unfilled positions for chairpersons and members, alongside a total lack of legal representation on the panels. The lawsuit points back to the 2018 apex court judgment, which established that state electricity regulatory commissions function similarly to courts and therefore require a qualified person with a legal background to sit as a member.
The challenge notes that panels in various regions—including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland—still lack a legal expert despite the prior ruling. For instance, the filing points out that all three office positions are vacant in Tamil Nadu, while Andhra Pradesh operates with only a finance member due to open slots for the chairperson and technical member. In West Bengal, only the chairperson position exists, and the current officeholder lacks the mandated legal qualifications.
The petitioner organization contends that these administrative failures undermine basic consumer access to justice under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, emphasizing that citizens cannot fairly adjudicate complaints under the Electricity Act without a proper legal authority present. The lawsuit urges the bench to compel the specified states and union territories to outline their actions toward bringing their regulatory commissions into full compliance with the governing statutes, prompting the court to issue notices for their official replies.