The Enforcement Directorate chief, Sanjay Kumar Mishra, was given one-year extension in service on Wednesday, days after the Centre issued an ordinance increasing the agency head’s tenure from two years to up to five years.
The 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service officer was to retire on November 18. He will now remain the ED Director till November 18, 2022 or until further orders.
About a year ago, Mr. Mishra had got an extension for a year, on completion of the then two-year fixed tenure, after the Union Finance Ministry modified the 2018 order of his appointment as ED chief, with the President's approval.
The retrospective extension was challenged before the Supreme Court, which upheld the government’s power to extend tenures, but underlined that such a drastic measure should be taken only rarely. “It can be given to facilitate an ongoing investigation. Any extension of tenure during superannuation should be for a short period,” said the judgment.
On Sunday, President Ram Nath Kovind had promulgated two ordinances that allowed the Central government to extend the tenures of the directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate from two years to up to five years.
