The oath-taking ceremony of Delhi-electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairperson-designate Justice (Retd) Umesh Kumar was postponed at the eleventh hour following an email from Delhi Power Minister Atishi, informing him that she had “suddenly took ill”.
On Monday afternoon, Atishi wrote to Justice (Retd) Kumar conveying her “deepest apologies” for the postponement of the ceremony to 6 pm on Thursday as she “suddenly took ill”, power department sources told The Indian Express citing an email in this regard
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Atishi was scheduled to administer the oath of office and secrecy to Justice (Retd) Kumar at 6 pm on Monday.
The appointment of the DERC chairperson was a significant bone of contention between the AAP Delhi government and the L-G after the promulgation of the Centre’s ordinance on the services matter, reported The Indian Express.
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The Power Minister, on Friday, had expressed her “deep distress” at the inconvenience caused to the DERC chairperson-designate blaming the “unprofessional behaviour” of one of her officers for the continued delay in his swearing-in.
“This unfortunate situation has arisen because the Power Department wrote to you, asking for time for taking oath, without my instructions or without checking my availability,” said Atishi.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier proposed the appointment of Justice (Retd) Shrivastava for the post to the Delhi L-G for the second time in May.
The Supreme Court on May 19, had directed the L-G to act upon and to appoint the DERC chairperson within two weeks.