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The Supreme Court has upheld the retrospective extension of tenure of Director, Enforcement Directorate, SK Mishra till 2021 by the Central Government.

A bench of Justices LN Rao & BR Gavai said that an extension of short period may be allowed in “rarest of rare cases”, however, no further extension will be allowed.

The Plea which challenged the extension had sought a direction against the Centre, for fair and transparent appointments to Agencies like ED, in accordance with Section 25 of the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003.

As per the Act the tenure of ED Director should be of 2 years, whereas the present director has been given an extension of 1 year – This has become means of Harassment, said Adv. Bhushan on an earlier occasion.

Mr. Sanjay Kumar Mishra was appointed on November 19, 2018 and his tenure, as per the Statutory Act, expires on November 19, 2020.

“The impugned Office Order, dated 13.11.2020, issued by the Respondent No.1 is in the teeth of Section 25 of the CVC Act as the said Section provides that a person has to be above the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of India to be eligible for appointment as a Director of Enforcement. Thus, as the Respondent No.2 has already reached his retirement age in May 2020, therefore, after the end of Respondent No.2's two-year period on 19.11.2020, the Respondent No.2, by virtue of not holding any post above the rank of Additional Secretary, would have been ineligible for appointment as a Director of Enforcement again,” the plea stated.

case title: Common Cause Vs. UOI