The Central Government has apprised the Supreme Court of India that the petition against extension of tenure Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sanjay Kumar Mishra has been filed with an intention of protecting Congress leaders who have been facing money laundering charges.
On February 24th, a counter affidavit was filed that claimed the plea filed by Congress leader Dr. Jaya Thakur was with the purpose to garner political advantage as several Congress leaders are under the ED scanner.
The advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma filed the plea for Thakur, that challenged the third extension granted to Mishra.
Thakur submitted that it was in violation of the top court’s orders and is destroying the democratic process of our country.
Mishra was first appointed as the ED Director for a two-year term in November 2018. The two-year term expired in November 2020. In May 2020, he had reached the retirement age of 60.
The Central Government however, issued an office order on November 13, 2020, stating that the President had modified the 2018 order to the effect that a time of ‘two years’ was changed to a period of ‘three years.’
This was challenged at the Supreme Court by the NGO Common Cause.
The Central government brought in an ordinance amending the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, empowering itself to extend the tenure of the ED Director up to five years after the Supreme Court’s decision last year which was later challenged before the top court.