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Centre extends ED director SK Mishra tenure a day before retirement
SK Mishra joined the ED chief on November 19, 2018 for two year fixed tenure. Then, in November last year, he got first extension for one year.
New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday extended the tenure for a year of Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a day before he was set to retire, and three days after the government brought an ordinance that allowed such a move.
An order, issued by the department of revenue, said: “The President of India is pleased to extend the tenure of Sanjay Kumar Mishra (Indian Revenue Service officer of 1984 batch) as Director of Enforcement in the ED for a period of one year beyond November 18, 2021, i.e. November 18, 2022 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”
On Sunday, a government ordinance amended the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, allowing for ED chiefs up to be given annual extensions that could extend their fixed two-year terms to a total of five years. Another ordinance was brought on the same day to change the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) act to give CBI directors similar service and tenure terms.
Several opposition parties have targeted the government over taking the ordinance route just before the start of a Parliament session, and accused the government of using federal agencies to harass political leaders and civil society members.
SK Mishra joined the ED chief on November 19, 2018 for two year fixed tenure. Then, in November last year, he got first extension for one year.
The SC, while hearing a petition by NGO Common Cause challenging Mishra’s one year extension in November 2020, cleared the government decision but said that he should not be granted any further extension. The SC order came while interpreting the old Section 25 of the CVC Act, which has now been amended by way of an ordinance
The ordinance, brought in on Sunday, amending the section 25 of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) act, which governs the appointment and tenure of ED Director, states that the ED chief, including his initial appointment (fixed tenure of two years), can get extension up to five years but every extension will be given for a year at a time.
The ordinance tweaked the rules to make the extension possible.
The government, on Tuesday, also notified its Fundamental Rules (FR) -- overarching guidelines that apply to all civilian government servants -- to bring the rulebook in line with the two ordinances.
However, the tweaked FR -- which already provided for a maximum two-year extensions to the home, foreign and defence secretaries, and the CBI, R&AW and IB chiefs -- excluded the post of foreign secretary from the ambit of the exceptions to the superannuation rule, which otherwise says all officers must retire at the age of 60.
The government clarified on Wednesday that this was an oversight, and reintroduced the term “foreign secretary” into the relevant paragraph, which now reads: “Provided also that the Central Government may, if it considers necessary in the public interest so to do, give extension in service to the Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Director of Intelligence Bureau, Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing and Director of Central Bureau of Investigation appointed under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (25 of 1946) and Director of Enforcement in the Directorate of Enforcement appointed under the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003 (45 of 2003) in the Central Government for such period or periods as it may deem proper on a case-to-case basis for reasons to be recorded in writing, subject to the condition that the total term of such Secretaries or Directors, as the case may be, who are given such extension in service under this rule, does not exceed two years or the period provided in the respective Act or rules made thereunder, under which their appointments are made.”
Mishra’s three-year tenure as ED chief has seen the arrest of several high-profile people accused of money laundering, including former Yes Bank managing director and chief executive officer Rana Kapoor; former ICICI Bank former MD-CEO Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar; British middleman Christian Michel James in AgustaWestland scam; alleged middleman Sushen Mohan Gupta; former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri; and former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. The government’s argument was that Mishra’s extension was required to ensure continuity in these high-profile and sensitive cases.
