The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to fill vacancies in electricity regulatory commissions across 15 States and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. [Energy Watchdog v. State of WB]

A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana agreed to consider the plea.

The petition, filed by non-governmental organisation Energy Watchdog, alleges that several State Electricity Regulatory Commissions have been functioning without chairpersons, technical members or legally qualified members, in violation of the Electricity Act, 2003 and an earlier Supreme Court judgment.

The plea contends that prolonged vacancies have affected the functioning of these regulatory bodies and deprived electricity consumers of effective remedies against distribution companies.

According to the petition, the situation is particularly serious in Tamil Nadu, where all three positions - including that of chairperson, legal member and technical member - have remained vacant since June 2026.

In Andhra Pradesh, the commission is allegedly functioning with only one member handling finance, while the positions of chairperson and technical member remain vacant. The existing member is not a legally qualified person, the petition states.

The petitioner has also pointed out that electricity regulatory commissions in West Bengal, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland have only the position of chairperson, with no posts created for legal or technical members. The incumbent chairpersons in these States allegedly do not possess the requisite legal qualifications. Similar concerns have been raised regarding Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, where vacancies have allegedly left the commissions without the mandatory legal expertise.

The petition relies on the Supreme Court's 2018 judgment in State of Gujarat v. Utility Users' Welfare Association, which held that state electricity regulatory commissions must have a suitably qualified legal member and that every bench performing adjudicatory functions must include such a member.

Energy Watchdog has argued that the failure to comply with this judgment undermines the statutory framework governing electricity regulation.

It has further contended that consumers' fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution are affected when vacancies prevent regulatory commissions from performing their adjudicatory functions.

The petition also refers to the statutory timelines prescribed under the Electricity Act for filling vacancies. The Act requires the appointment process to be initiated six months before the expiry of a member's tenure and the selection committee to complete its recommendations within three months of receiving a reference.

Energy Watchdog was represented by Advocate Pranav Sachdeva.