Pankaj Rai named HPERC Chairperson on the High Court's deadline

10 November 2026

Himachal Pradesh has named Pankaj Rai, an IAS officer, to head its electricity regulator as Chairperson of the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (HPERC). The Department of MPP and Power notified the appointment on November 10, the last day allowed by the High Court. In its order, a division bench had told the state to fill the post in line with what the Selection Committee had recommended. That committee had suggested Rai for Chairperson and Rajiv Sood for Member, but the Chief Minister turned the panel down. The bench called the rejection arbitrary and said arbitrariness runs against the equality clause of Article 14 of the Constitution. Rai, who belongs to the 2014 batch, had moved the court asking for a fair selection completed on time. With this notification, the long uncertainty over who would chair the regulator has come to an end.