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SK Mishra’s extended term violates the mandate of a judgment in 2021, the Supreme Court said.
New Delhi:
The extension of Sanjay Kumar Mishra’s tenure as Enforcement Directorate chief for the third time is illegal, the Supreme Court said today in a setback to the government, but allowed him to continue till July 31. The Centre must appoint a new chief for the probe agency after that, the court said.
SK Mishra’s extended term violates the mandate of a judgment in 2021, the Supreme Court said.
But the court said he would continue till July 31 after the Centre expressed concern about continuity in the middle of a peer review by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global terror financing watchdog.
The Centre had cited the peer review every time it extended Mr Mishra’s term. In May, the government had told the Supreme Court that he would retire in November. “This officer is not some DGP (Director General of Police) of any state but an officer representing the country in a United Nation-like body and is in the midst of something. This court must not interfere with his tenure and from November onwards, he will not be there,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said on behalf of the Centre.
“He has been overseeing some important investigations related to money laundering and his continuity was required in the interest of the nation. He is not indispensable. Peer review was earlier scheduled to be held in 2019 but was postponed due to Covid and it is happening in 2023,” he said.
In a peer review, countries are assessed on steps taken to check terror financing and money laundering, say officials.
Mr Mishra was appointed the Enforcement Directorate’s chief in November 2018. He was to retire two years later after turning 60. But in November 2020, the government gave him an extension. His term was extended twice after that.
“We find that the legislature is competent, no fundamental rights have been violated, and there is no manifest arbitrariness… extension can be granted to high-level officials such as this in the public interest and with reasons in writing,” the Supreme Court said.
The court backed the amendments made to the Central Vigilance Commission Act and the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, which allow the Centre to extend the terms of probe agency chiefs by up to five years.
Mr Mishra’s repeated extensions had provoked strong objections from the opposition, which accuses the government of weaponising the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI to target political rivals.
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