The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the tenure of Enforcement Directorate chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra till September 15 in the “larger public interest” and to allow the “smooth functioning” of the agency, reported Bar and Bench.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol passed the order on a Union government plea seeking the extension of Mishra’s tenure. The bench, however, clarified that no more extension will be given.
On July 11, the Supreme Court had held that two extensions given to Mishra in November 2021 and November 2022 were illegal. It had, however, permitted him to continue at the post till July 31.
This was after the Centre expressed concern over finding a new chief in the middle of a peer review being carried out by the Financial Action Task Force.
Mishra had first been appointed as the Enforcement Directorate director for a period of two years on November 19, 2018. In 2020, his tenure was extended for a year by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government.
In September 2021, the Supreme Court had directed the government not to extend Mishra’s tenure any further. But despite the ruling, the government introduced two ordinances to ensure that the directors of the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation could have tenures of up to five years. This allowed Mishra to continue for another year.
In November 2022, the government again extended the 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service officer’s tenure for a year. He was to remain in office till November 18, 2023, according to the notification issued by the government.
These extensions had been challenged before the Supreme Court by Opposition leaders.
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