# Supreme Court seeks 15 states’ replies on power panel vacancies 2026-10-09T16:26:17+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Supreme Court on Friday, 9 October 2026, sought responses from 15 states and the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on a public interest litigation alleging that state electricity regulatory commissions are functioning without chairpersons, technical members or legally qualified members. The petition, filed by NGO Energy Watchdog through Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, claims this violates the Electricity Act, 2003 and a 2018 Supreme Court judgment. According to the plea, Tamil Nadu's commission has all three positions vacant since June 2026. In Andhra Pradesh, only one finance member is in place while chairperson and technical member posts are empty. West Bengal, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland have only chairpersons who allegedly lack legal qualifications. Similar concerns were raised about Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The petition argues that vacancies deprive consumers of lawful remedies against distribution companies and infringe fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The court has directed the states and Union Territories to disclose steps taken to ensure their commissions comply with the Electricity Act. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Barandbench.com and India Today both reported the Supreme Court's notice as a straight news development, with no editorial slant in either account. Barandbench led with the legal basis, citing the 2018 judgment and statutory timelines for filling vacancies, while India Today emphasised the number of states involved and the court's directive to respond. Both outlets accurately conveyed the petitioner's claims about vacancies in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal without independently verifying them. The coverage is uniform straight reporting from the court proceedings, the implications for consumers will depend on how the 15 states and two Union Territories respond to the notice. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - barandbench.com (neutral report) Straight legal report, no slant, focuses on petition details - indiatoday.in (neutral report) Straight news report, no slant, emphasises court action This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Electricity Act 2003, Energy Watchdog, Supreme Court, Surya Kant, Tamil Nadu Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-seeks-15-states-replies-on-power-panel-vacancies/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-seeks-15-states-replies-on-power-panel-vacancies/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/