The challenge to two new ordinances, which leave the tenures of the country’s premier investigative bodies at the mercy of the government, is gathering steam in the Supreme Court.
Congress party leader R.S. Surjewala on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to quash the ordinances which allow the government to extend the tenures of the chiefs of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) “in a piecemeal fashion” up to a maximum of five years.
Mr. Surjewala’s plea follows a day after Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra challenged the ordinances in the top court.
The Congress leader said the ordinances would leave the heads of the two top investigative bodies insecure about their tenure and erode their professional independence.
Mr. Surjewala pointed to how the government has couched the need for the ordinances in “vague” terms, saying it was in “public interest”.
“Extension of tenure, in this ad-hoc and episodic fashion, in fact reaffirms the control of the Executive over investigative agencies and is directly antithetical to their independent functioning,” the petition said.
Supreme Court lawyer, Manohar Lal Sharma, in a separate petition, has urged the apex court to quash the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021; the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, and Fundamental (Amendment) Rules, 2021 issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
The petitions refer to a recent judgment given by the Supreme Court which had barred the government from extending the tenure of the ED chief unless in “exceptional circumstances”.
The court had pronounced a series of judgments since 1998, in the Vineet Narain case, to ensure the fixity of tenure for the Director, CBI.
“These ordinances go against the aforementioned rulings that give much-needed stability to the tenure of Director of Enforcement and the Director, CBI, to protect them from political interference,” the petition argued.
They were also in direct contravention of the recommendations suggested by the Independent Review Committee (IRC) constituted in 1997, which recommended that the CBI Director should have a minimum tenure of two years, and that a “change in the existing Tenure Rules [is] not recommended.”
