Centre brings ordinance to extend CBI, ED chiefs tenure up to 5 years

The Centre has brought ordinance to extend the tenure of Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation directors up to 5 years.

The Union government had extended Last year in November the tenure of ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra by a year after modifying his appointment order that was issued in 2018. Mishra’s two-year tenure had ended in November 2020 but an extension was given to him.

The tenure of the CBI directors before 1997 was not fixed and they could be removed by the government in any manner. However, the Supreme Court in the Vineet Narain judgment fixed a tenure of a minimum of two years for the CBI director to allow the officer to work with independence.

The Supreme Court had on September 7 said that he would not get another extension beyond November 17, though it had refused to quash the Centre’s order extending his tenure with retrospective effect.

The ordinance coming days ahead of the end of Mishra’s tenure has set the tongues wagging as a section believes that it is meant to overcome the restriction put by the Supreme Court. There was no official word.

The new ordinances come just 15 days ahead of the proposed start of Parliament’s Winter Session and Opposition has accused the Narendra Modi government of overlooking the Parliament.