Central government moves Supreme Court seeking extension of tenure of ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra

The Central government Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking extension of tenure of incumbent Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sanjay Kumar Mishra who was asked by the top court to demit office by July 31..The matter was mentioned by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta before Justice BR Gavai-led bench seeking urgent listing. The Court acceded to the request and agreed to hear the plea on Thursday at 3.30 pm..A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol had, on July 11 this year, struck down the earlier extension granted to Mishra on the ground that the same was in violation of the Supreme Court's 2021 judgment.In that judgment, the top court had directed that Mishra cannot be given any extension beyond November 2021..Mishra was first appointed ED Director for a two-year term in November 2018. This term expired in November 2020. In May 2020, he had reached the retirement age of 60.However, on November 13, 2020, the Central government issued an office order stating that the President had modified the 2018 order to the effect that a time of 'two years' was changed to a period of 'three years.' This was challenged before the Supreme Court by the NGO Common Cause.The Supreme Court in a September 2021 verdict approved the modification, but ruled against granting more extensions to Mishra.After the Court's decision in 2021, the Central government brought in an ordinance amending the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, giving itself the power to extend the tenure of the ED Director by up to five years.The parliament later passed a law in this regard allowing extensions to the tenure of the ED Director for one year at a time, subject to a maximum of 5 years.This came to be challenged before the apex court again. On July 11, the apex court upheld the amendments made by the legislature to the Central Vigilance Commission Act (CVC Act) conferring power on the Central government to extend the tenure of ED director by upto 5 years.However, it struck down the extension granted to Mishra on the ground that it was contrary to the 2021 judgment.It, therefore, asked the Central government to appoint a new director by July 31.