APPELLATE TRIBUNAL FOR ELECTRICITY

Shri Rakesh Nath,  born on 21.05.1950, has assumed office as Technical Member of APTEL on 03.03.2010 FN .Prior to this, he was  the Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority(CEA) and Ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India. He has about 37 years of varied experience in Power Sector planning,  Operation & Maintenance of Thermal and Hydro Power Stations and Transmission System, Regulation of water supply from multi-purpose hydro projects including operation & maintenance of irrigation canal system, Power System  Operation   and Power Trading.

As Chairman CEA, he worked extensively for accelerated capacity addition during the 11th Five Year Plan and initiated advance action for the 12th Plan.  Some of the measures taken were review of pre-qualification requirement for suppliers to promote new players with a view to enhance competition and  indigenous manufacturing capacity, standardization of thermal plant specifications, bulk tendering for 11X660 MW super critical units with mandatory phased indigenous manufacturing.  ‘Adopt an ITI Scheme’ for local skill development, review of terms and conditions of contracts to avoid disputes and development of model contract document for hydro project.  He was closely associated with development of Ultra Mega Power Projects and was a Member of Apex Evaluation Committee for Sasan, Mundra, Krishnapatnam and Tilaiya UMPPs.   He has been instrumental in preparation of a proposal  for low carbon growth strategy for power sector till 2022 and CO2 base line data for power sector.He has also been ex-officio Member of CERC and Part Time Director of Nuclear Power Corporation.

As Chairman, Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) from  the year 2001 to 2005, he  was responsible for administration, operation and maintenance of Bhakra Beas hydro stations  the largest hydro complex in Northern Region. During his tenure as Whole Time Director of Power Trading Corporation (PTC) during the years 2000 & 2001, he initiated important transactions of trading of power from surplus to deficit areas. He visited Islamabad in November, 1998 as a Member of Indian delegation on trading of power and visited Kathmandu in September 2001 as a Member of Indian Team to promote Indo-Nepal power trade.

Shri Rakesh Nath has been the Member Secretary of Northern Regional Electricity Board (NREB) and Western Regional Electricity Board (WREB), the two largest regional grids of the country. He was Convener of the Working Group set up by the Government of India to prepare guidelines for inter-regional power

transaction which paved  way for structuring inter-regional power transfers across the country.

Shri Rakesh Nath attended courses in power system operation and control in UK in 1984 and in Sweden in 1993. He participated as member in proceedings of Expert Committee on Sedimentation of International Committee on Large Dams  in Brazil in  2002. He was also deputed to attend International Conference on Water Power held at Buffalo, USA in  2003.  As Chairperson CEA, he was deputed to Norway to study power markets, to Switzerland for study on manufacturing  of large boiler and Turbine generators with Super Critical technology and to USA to promote investments in Indian power sector.  He has been President of Central Board of Irrigation & Power from  Feb. 2006 to Feb. 2010. Shri Rakesh Nath, after serving the tribunal for about 5 years demitted the office of Technical Member on 20.05.2015 (A.N).

Shri Vishwa Jeet Talwar born on 15th July 1949, joined Appellate tribunal for Electricity on 3rd December 2010. Before joining the Tribunal, Sh Talwar was Chairman of Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission from 3rd August 2007 to 2ndDecember 2010 and prior to that he was Member (Technical) in that Commission.  Shri Talwar is an Electrical Engineer with bachelor degree in law having more than 40 years in power sector.   During this illustrious career spanning, he served in different capacities and handled important assignments in different organizations, viz, Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission, Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, Central Electricity Authority, Northern Regional Electricity Board, Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking and New Delhi Municipal Committee. Various postings and opportunities have enabled him to acquire wide and varied experience in the electricity industry in its entirety covering the fields of electricity regulation (engineering and tariff setting as also to a large extent the legal aspect), planning, design costing etc. of transmission and distribution systems, grid operation (both operational and commercial aspects and load generation balance), Intra/Inter-regional Exchanges of power.

Shri Talwar has widely traveled in many countries such as Japan, Canada, USA andFrance for various training programmes/studies/conferences etc. Shri V.J. Talwar demitted the office of Member (Tech) in the Tribunal on 02.12.2013, after completing a term of three years.

Joined West Bengal Judicial Service in 1976 and served in several capacities such as Munsiff, Judicial Magistrate, Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate, Chief Judicial Magistrate in several districts of West Bengal.  Also worked as Deputy Secretary to the Government of West Bengal in the Judicial Department.  Was appointed Additional District & Sessions Judge in 1995 and held the post in different places of he State.  Also served as Law Secretary and Labour Secretary in the Andaman & Nicobar Administration and Joint Secretary in the Judicial Department of he Government of West Bengal.  Was appointed as Registrar of he High Court and served the post for a number of years.  Was the District and Sessions Judge of he district of Nadia, of the district of Howrah and lastly of the district of 24 Parganas (South).  Was elevated to the Bench of Calcutta High Court on 22.6.2006 and worked in the Civil, Criminal and Constitutional jurisdictions.  Retired from the Bench on 2nd January, 2010.  Have been appointed as Judicial member of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity and joined the assignment on 16th April, 2010.  Demitted his office on completion of his tenure on 02.01.2013.

With several years experience in the oil sector, Shri Mahesh B.Lal has been one of the doyens of the oil industry which he has served with distinction for more than three decades, having held several key positions in different companies and also in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Govt. of India.  

As Advisor(Refineries) to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in the early ‘90s,   Shri Lal played a key role in the development of several policy issues, especially in the wake of the new liberalization policies of the Government such as in fuel quality, private sector participation, joint ventures, de-control of the oil sector and in technology-related issues such as expansion and upgradation of existing refineries, setting up of Greenfield refineries etc. Thereafter, he held Board positions in various oil companies starting with Madras Refineries Limited (now Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd.) as Director(Operations) and then as Director(Refineries) in BPCL for about six years and finally as Chairman and Managing Director, HPCL from where he superannuated in March 2007 after serving there for about five years.  Shri Lal has given an outstanding account of himself in all these positions with several innovative initiatives, whether it is in terms of higher sales revenue or profitability or increased output, better customer service, market penetration and sales growth, modernization, and also in developing full potential of Human Resources. He has successfully led a highly successful organizational transformation in his last  assignment. The radical and path breaking steps he took have strengthened the corporation for meeting  the challenges in Refining and Marketing in a free market, and brought about substantial growth in the  organization’s activities.

Apart from this, Shri Lal has also been a part-time Director on the Boards of NRL, KRL, IBP,  MRL and several other joint venture companies.

By training, Shri Lal is a Chemical Engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and is a Post Graduate in Business Administration from the famous Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.  Shri Lal has been recognized by the I.I.T., Kanpur as a distinguished Alumnus.  He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions, such as Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to the Refinery Sector from Chemtech Foundation, Honorary Fellowship by the Energy Institute, London, U.K, Strategy Award for creating a Learning Culture, from the Indira Group of Institutes, Pune, India’s Greatest HR Professional Award from ITM Business School etc. Shri Lal has been the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Chairman of the Review Committee for Auto Fuel Policy of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Govt. of India.  Shri Lal is associated with I.I.M., Ahmedabad and the, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun.Shri M.B.Lal demitted the office of member (Technical)(P & NG) after serving the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity , Ministry of Power , Govt. of India on dated 12.03.2012.  

Born on 20th May, 1945. Graduated in Electrical Engineering and did his Masters in Power Systems from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.

Mr. Harbans L. Bajaj, a graduate in Electrical Engineering and Masters in Power Systems from PEC, Chandigarh was appointed Technical Member in Appellate Tribunal for Electricity in May, 2005. Tribunal hears appeals against the orders of the Central and State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Mr. Bajaj is a Director on the Board of Nuclear Power Corporation also. He is also a member of Government of India Expert Committee for finalising tariff norms of Atomic Power Stations. He has served as director on the Board of power generating and power trading companies.

 In 2002, Mr. Bajaj was appointed Chairman of Central Electricity Authority (CEA), an apex technical organization in the power sector at the national level, Government of India. He was concurrently Chairman of the Central Electricity Board; Chairman of Electro-Technical Division Council, Bureau of Indian Standards; Vice-President of the Governing Councils of Central Power Research Institute, Bangalore and National Power Training Institute and Ex-officio member of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and on the Board of Directors of Nuclear Power Corporation. He envisioned and brought about structural changes within CEA for its massive technological and qualitative upgradation and launched 50,000 MW Hydro electric and 100,000 MW environmental friendly thermal capacity initiative to accelerate power development in the country. He evolved nationwide consensus for adoption of 800 – 1000 MW super critical technology units. Within three years, he took CEA to greater heights which has significantly impacted the Indian Power sector.

Under his leadership as a member of Board of Directors, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) - a leading power utility in India employing more than 5000 engineers and technical professionals – became the 6th largest thermal engineering company and the most efficient among the top 10 in capacity

utilization in the world. These efficiency improvements resulted in setting new bench marks and increased efficiency levels In recognition of these achievements, the Western Region of NTPC under him was awarded the Prime Minister's highest award of Shram Ratna to an employee for technical excellence. He was instrumental in evolving consensus for undertaking power sector reforms at the national level.

During the stint of 14 years with the then FORTUNE 500 Company, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL), Mr. Bajaj led engineering teams for power generation, transmission and distribution projects in India and abroad. Mr. Bajaj commenced his career with Haryana State Electricity Board in 1968 and was instrumental in accelerating rural electrification by adopting innovative construction and management techniques which resulted in 100% Rural Electrification of Haryana – the first State to achieve such distinction in 1970.

Mr. Bajaj is a Fellow of Institution of Engineers, India; Institution of Electrical Engineers, U.K., the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, USA and All India Management Association. He is recipient of various National and International Awards which include Engineering Manager Award for the year 2005 by Engineering Management Society (EMS), IEEE, USA; Platinum Jubilee Award of Central Board of Irrigation and Power, India in November, 2005 for outstanding contribution in the field of energy; Eminent Engineer Award in 2002 by the Institution of Engineers, India; Outstanding Engineer Award 2001 by the Institution of Electrical Engineers, UK and the 1999 Outstanding Chapter Power Engineer Award by Power Engineering Society of IEEE, USA.

Mr. Bajaj has contributed/presented numerous papers on power and allied subjects in various international/national conferences. He is on the Award Board of OPB National Awards Committee, Vasvik Award Board and has been a Member of Governing Council of Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology, Delhi. Mr. Bajaj demitted his office on completion of his tenure on 19th May, 2010.

Born on January 3, 1945.  Obtained Masters Degree in Economics from University of Calcutta in 1966.  Completed LLB from University of Calcutta in the year 1967.   Started her career as Lecturer in Economics for under graduate classes and Teachers Training College in the year 1967-1970.

Joined West Bengal Civil Services (Judicial) in April 1970.  Was the first lady to join that service.

Joined Delhi Judicial Services in May 1972. Promoted to Delhi Higher Judicial Services in the year 1986.

During the long tenure as Judicial Officer in the Delhi Judicial Services and in the Delhi Higher Judicial Services  worked  as Sub-Judge, Metropolitan Magistrate, Presiding Officer Labour Court, Additional Rent Controller, Rent Controller, Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Additional District Session Judge & Secretary Delhi Legal Aid & Advice Board.  Was also entrusted with Administrative duties as Judge Incharge of Patiala House Court and also shared  administrative duties of District Judge from time to time.

Also elevated to  the post of Registrar,  Supreme Court of India with effect from 30.09.1994 to 01.04.1997.

Appointed as Hon’ble Judge of Delhi High Court on 05th July, 2004.  Retired on 03rd January, 2007 as Judge from Delhi High Court.

Trained in “Gender & Law” under the aegis of the British Council.  Has published papers in Supreme Court cases, and in DJA Journal  and has contributed to reading material prepared by National Judicial Academy.

Has been working as resource person in  National Judicial Academy and in  Delhi Judicial Academy.

Appointed as Judicial Member, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity on 25th January, 2007. Demitted the office on completion of her tenure on 2nd January 2010.

Born on August 7, 1944. Did M. Tech from IIT New Delhi. Attended Advance Programme on Strategic Management of Enterprises at Henley College of Management, U.K, Programme on Digital Technology at Massachusett, Boston, USA and Minicomputer Architecture and design at Digital Equipment Corporation, USA. Worked in Indian Air Force from 1975 to 1981 where he retired voluntarily as Wing Commander. Was Project Engineer in Ministry of Defence from 1975 to 1981. Worked as Chief Engineer in ONGC, GAIL and was Chairman & Managing Director of Power Finance Corporation from December 2000 to May 2005. Was responsible for steering the performance of Corporation into top 10 best performing CPSU. Developed a Strategic Corporate Plan for PFC and guided PFC in recording highest productivity, record dividends and having Nil non performing assets.

Has participated in many conferences as a lead member in countries like USA, Singapore, Argentina, Shangai, Germany, France and therefore is widely-travelled.

Appointed as Technical Member, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity on 13.5.2005.  Demitted his office on completion of his tenure on 06.08.2009.

Born on 15th December, 1941. After graduation, he graduated in Law with Post Graduate Diploma in Company, Banking and Insurance Laws. Started practice in 1966 from Madras Bar. Has specialization in writs, constitutional, environmental and administrative law matters. Held the Office of the Secretary, High Court Rules Committee. Designated as Senior Advocate during January, 1994. Elevated as Judge of the Chennai High Court on 19.12.1996. Delivered many landmark judgements such as permitting women employees to work during third shift by providing work safety measures, directing transport authorities to grant permit to transport operators to ply mini-buses in villages. Associated with the Green Bench of the High Court for three years. Was President of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Union Territory of Pondicherry and Executive Chairman, Legal Services Authority, Union Territory of Pondicherry. Takes keen interest in legal aid to poor and has authored many articles on environment and consumer protection. Retired on 14.12.2003. Appointed as sole arbitrator in many cases by High Court after retirement. Appointed as Judicial Member, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity on 13.05.2005.  Demitted his office on completion of his tenure on 14th December, 2006.