KOCHI: The High Court sought the government's explanation on a petition challenging the appointment of former Deputy Chief Engineer B Pradeep, who was serving as Chief Engineer at KSEB, as a technical member of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. The petition filed by CP George, who applied for the appointment of Technical Member, is being considered by Justice N Nagaresh.

The process of selecting the technical member was questioned in the High Court from the very beginning. The petition pointed out that the move was to bypass the rules and appoint Pradeep. There were 95 applicants for the appointment. Although the criteria adopted by the selection committee for preparing the shortlist of 28 persons were legal, the High Court had cancelled the appointment stating that there was no clarity regarding the procedures by which 17 persons were selected from them. It also issued an order to make the appointment after considering the shortlist of 28 persons once again. However, the petition pointed out that Pradeep was again appointed as a technical member.