JAMES M. DAVID Vs. GOVERNMENT OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The question involved in this writ petition concerns the interpretation of the words "Power Sector" in Regulation 15(1) of the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum and Electricity Ombudsman) Regulations, 2005 regarding the appointment of the Electricity Ombudsman.

(2.) Brief facts necessary for the disposal of the writ petition are as follows: The petitioner retired from the Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'KSEBL') as Chief Engineer. He is a B.Tech graduate in Electrical Engineering from the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram. He was appointed to the KSEBL in 1990 as an Assistant Engineer and then promoted to Assistant Executive Engineer, Executive Engineer, and Deputy Chief Engineer. He was appointed as Chief Engineer in the year 2015 and continued till he superannuated in the year 2021. He has a total experience of 31 years in KSEBL, a company in the power sector, out of which 10 years of experience is in generation, 10 years in transmission, and 11 years in distribution. Chapter 3 of the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum and Electricity Ombudsman) Regulations (hereinafter referred to as KSERC) deals with the establishment of an Electricity Ombudsman, qualifications and tenure of appointment, powers, and duties, maintainability of complaints, its disposal, proceedings and award etc.

(3.) Regulation 15 deals with the Qualifications and Tenure of the appointment of the Electricity Ombudsman. A notification was issued by the 2nd respondent on 21/2/2022 inviting applications to fill out the post of Electricity Ombudsman (Ext.P2). Pursuant to the notification, the petitioner submitted an application dtd. 3/3/2022 with relevant experience certificates. As per the stipulation in Regulation 15 and Ext.P2 notification, the petitioner is qualified and has the requisite experience in the power sector to be appointed as Electricity Ombudsman. After the issuance of the order impugned, appointing the 4th respondent as Electricity Ombudsman, the petitioner got reliable information that the 4th respondent does not have the required experience of 20 years in the power sector as mandated in Regulation 15 of the KSERC and Ext.P2 notification.