Delhi News: Central Govt Moves SC On ED Chief's Tenure

The Centre on Wednesday moved an application before the Supreme Court seeking extension of the tenure of Enforcement Directorate chief Sanjay Mishra, which is ending on July 31.

A bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai agreed to hear the Centre’s application on July 27 after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, mentioned the matter for urgent listing.

“There is some urgency with regard to that matter. We request urgent listing of the miscellaneous application,” Mehta told the bench. The solicitor general requested the bench to list the matter urgently, saying this application needs to be heard by Friday.

Matter kept for hearing on Thursday

The bench posted the matter for hearing on Thursday at 3:30 pm. Earlier, on July 11, the Supreme Court had dubbed the extension of Mishra as “illegal” for violating the mandate of the top court’s judgment in 2021. However, the apex court had allowed him to continue in the post till July 31, in view of the concerns expressed by the Union government.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol had said, in view of the peer review being conducted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) this year and to enable smooth transition, that Mishra's tenure will be till July 31. FATF is a global body that leads action to tackle money laundering and terror financing.

Sanjay Mishra was to remain in office till Nov 18 2023

The 1984-batch IRS officer was otherwise to remain in office till November 18, 2023, according to the notification issued by the government.

Mishra, 63, was first appointed ED director for two years on November 19, 2018. Later, by an order dated November 13, 2020, the central government modified the appointment letter retrospectively and his two-year term was changed to three years.