The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from Centre on a PIL by NGO 'Common Cause' challenging November 13 2020, order which retrospectively amended the tenure of the present Enforcement Directorate (ED) director Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Justice S Ravindra Bhat issued notice to the Centre on a plea by NGO Common Cause.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, submitted that according to the scheme of the act, the present director shall have a maximum tenure of two years instead he has been given a one-year extension.
He contended this would be destroying the independence of ED.
The bench told Bhushan that it is impressed with his submissions and will examine the plea.
The plea contended that Centre has employed a circuitous route in order to ensure Mishra gets one more year as ED director by way of retrospectively modifying the appointment order dated November 18, 2018, itself.
The NGO has made Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance and present ED directors; and Central Vigilance Commission, as parties.
The plea filed by the NGO has sought direction for quashing November 13 order along with a direction to the Centre to appoint ED director in a transparent manner and strictly in accordance with the mandate of Section 25 of the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003.
“The said two-year tenure has come to an end on 19.11.2020. Pertinently, the Respondent No. 2 (Mishra) has already reached the retirement age of 60 years in May 2020”, said the plea.
The NGO said the purpose of the Act is defeated if on the verge of his two-year tenure and much after his retirement age, the ED director is given a de facto extension in service by adoption of a circuitous route of modifying the initial appointment order itself.
(Published 15 February 2021, 15:15 IST)
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