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Synopsis

A writ petition has been filed by former IPS officer Rajendra Vishwanath Trivedi before the Bombay High Court challenging the appointment and extension of the tenure of current CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal.

The Former IPS Officer in his petition has said that the current CBI Director was appointed in May 2021 and his tenure is to end in May 2023, however, the Central Government passed an ordinance in November 2021 and extended the tenure of the director by one year. The petition stated, 

“It is a settled position of law that Ordinance making power is not a substitute for the regular law-making mechanism. However, the Central Government chose to promulgate an ordinance despite the fact that the Winter Session of the Parliament is due to commence from 29th of November, 2021.”

While terming the ordinance as impermissible legislation, the petition stated,

“The applicant submits that the promulgation of Ordinance No. 10 of 2021 is a classic case of impermissible legislative overruling and thereby violative of Articles 14 and the doctrine of rule of law.”

Since the ordinance was passed in 2021, the counsel representing the former IPS officer filed an interim application praying for amending the petition. The amended petition stated that the ordinance was passed extending the tenure beyond two years to serve the big-wigs after the age of retirement.

“The petitioner submits that although the Legislature provided for a minimum tenure of 2 years to the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, the same is misused as a bait for luring the senior most officers in the police force of the Country to serve the political big-wigs after the age of their retirement,” the plea read. 

The petition came up before the division bench of Justice SV Ganagapurwala and Justice SG Dige where Additional Solicitor General, Anil Singh sought time to respond to the plea. The bench then posted the matter to 22 November for further hearing.

The former IPS Officer in his plea had challenged the appointment of the CBI director and had claimed that the current CBI Director does not have enough experience in investigating anti-corruption cases and that his credibility is doubtful. Subsequently, the Central Government passed an ordinance extending the tenure of the CBI Director, and the petitioner prayed before the court to amend the petition to challenge the extension.

The Ministry of Personnel and Grievance has opposed the plea while stating that no cases are pending against Jaiswal in the court and that he has enough experience in anti-corruption cases.