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

Just two weeks before the Parliament's Winter Session starts, the Centre on Sunday promulgated two ordinances to extend the tenure of Directors of the CBI and Enforcement Directorate up to five years, an action that has invited the Opposition's wrath.

The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 deals with the extension of CBI Director up to five years while The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 deals with that of the Director of the ED.

For the CBI Director's tenure, a new subsection is inserted. "Provided that the period for which the Director holds the office on his initial appointment may, in public interest, on the recommendation of the Committee under sub-section (1) of section 4A and for the reasons to be recorded in writing, be extended up to one year at a time: Provided further that no such extension shall be granted after the completion of a period of five years in total including the period mentioned in the initial appointment."

Similar provision is added for the ED Director too. At present, the ED and CBI Directors have a fixed tenure of two years. While no recent CBI Directors had got extensions, ED Directors have got extensions in the recent past.

The current ED Director Sanjay Mishra was initially appointed for a two year tenure on 17, November 2018 but days before the end of his term, the government modified its appointment order from two years to three years.

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 on this.

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.

Congress Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh said, "this is to put Parliament in its place and remind it of its toothlessness in the 'MoSha' (Modi-Shah) regime."

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury described it as "virtual destruction" of Parliament and its authority. "The Ordinance-Raj is essentially undemocratic. This desperate hurry to extend and to avoid Parliament scrutiny smacks of something fishy," he said.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien tweeted, "Modi-Shah care two hoots about #Parliament (session starting in two weeks) They promised India the ‘Gujarat Model’… boy, are we getting there. They give a whole new meaning to the abbreviation BS! BRAZEN SHAMELESS slaughter of democracy."

Senior RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj K Jha said that everybody should worry about the modus operandi of the Modi government, as it has taken the ordinance route when the Parliament is about to start in two weeks time.

"It is an unprecedented, very unwelcome kind of development. They are destroying all institutions and institutional framework. I don't know what kind of State they want to create. They have almost created a Police State. This kind of mechanism where you bypass or short-circuit the Parliament shall not go very kindly in history," he said.

Asking what is the role of Parliament if these kinds of issues do not come up before Parliament, he said, "are you making the new Parliament to 'museumise' the very idea of democracy and democratic functioning."

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