LexSTATE OF GUJARAT & ORS. versus UTILITY USERS’ WELFARE ASSOCIATION & ORS.
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2018] 9 S.C.R.
STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.
v.
UTILITY USERS’ WELFARE ASSOCIATION & ORS.
(Civil Appeal No. 14697 of 2015)
APRIL 12, 2018
[J. CHELAMESWAR AND SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, JJ.]
Electricity Act 2003: ss. 84 and 86 – Appointment of
Chairperson of Central and State Regulatory Commissions –
Whether mandatory to have a judicial mind presiding over these
Commissions in the form of a Judge – Held: Section 84(2) is only
an enabling provision to appoint a High Court Judge as a
Chairperson of the State Commission – It is not mandatory to appoint
a High Court Judge as a Chairperson of the State Commission –
However, it is mandatory that there should be a person of law as a
Member of the Commission – Such member should be a person
holding a judicial office or is a person possessing professional
qualifications with substantial experience in the practice of law,
who has the requisite qualifications to have been appointed as a
Judge of the High Court or a District Judge – This is so because
the State Commission have adjudicatory function and has trappings
of the court – On facts, challenge to the appointment of the
Chairman and Member of the Tamil Nadu State Commission is
rejected as also the suo moto proceedings carried out by the
Commission.
ss. 84 and 86 – Qualifications for appointment of Chairperson
and Members of State Commission – Constitution of Selection
Committee to select Members of State Commission – Explained.
Interpretation of Statutes: Statutory construction – Golden
rule and literal rule of – Held: Both the golden rule and the literal
rule of statutory construction are well established that a statute
must be read as it is framed by the legislature – It is not the function
of the Court to supplant or read into the statute something which is
not provided – Courts may ascertain the real intention of the
legislature by carefully attending to the whole scope of the statute.
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[2018] 9 S.C.R. 106
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Disposing of the matters, the Court
HELD: 1. Section 84(2) of the Electricity Act 2003 is only
an enabling provision to appoint a High Court Judge as a
Chairperson of the State Commission of the said Act and it is not
mandatory to do so. It is mandatory that there should be a person
of law as a Member of the Commission, which requires a person,
who is, or has been holding a judicial office or is a person
possessing professional qualifications with substantial experience
in the practice of law, who has the requisite qualifications to have
been appointed as a Judge of the High Court or a District Judge.
In any adjudicatory function of the State Commission, it is
mandatory for a member having the said legal expertise to be a
member of the Bench. The challenge to the appointment of the
Chairman and Member of the Tamil Nadu State Commission is
rejected as also the suo moto proceedings carried out by the
Commission. The judgment would apply prospectively and would
not affect the orders already passed by the Commission from
time to time. In case there is no member from law as a member
of the Commission as required, the next vacancy arising in every
State Commission would be filled in by a Member of law in the
terms stated. [Para 114] [162-D-H; 163-A]
2.1 On a plain reading of Section 84(1), it is mandated that
both the Chairperson and the Members of the State Commission
“shall” be persons of ability, integrity and standing who have
adequate knowledge of and have shown capacity in dealing with
problems relating to engineering, finance, commerce, economics,
law or management. A plain grammatical reading of this Section
shows that no distinction has been made qua the qualifications of
a Chairperson and Member. All that is required is the mandates
contained in the sub-section, which begin with the word “shall”.
Thus, any person of the fields mentioned therein, having the
ability, integrity and standing can be appointed as a Member or
Chairperson. [Para 73] [147-G-H; 148-A-B]
2.2 Section 85 of the Act provides for constitution of a
Selection Committee to select the Members of the State
Commission, which in turn has to consist of the persons as set
out therein and mandatorily has to have a person, who has been
a Judge of the High Court as the Chairperson of the Selection
Committee. This provision refers to the appointment of
STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS. v. UTILITY USERS’ WELFARE
ASSOCIATION & ORS.
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SUPREME COURT REExcerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.