The Central government has brought two ordinances to extend the tenure of Directors of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) up to a maximum of five years.
The present tenure of the chiefs of the central probe agencies is two years from the date of their appointment.
President Ram Nath Kovind has signed off both the ordinances.
“Provided that the period for which the Director of Enforcement holds the office on his initial appointment may, in public interest, on the recommendation of the Committee under clause(a) and for the reason to be recorded in writing, be extended up to one year at a time,” the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 said.
“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,” the ordinance said.
In September this year, the Supreme Court had upheld the Centre’s power to extend Enforcement Directorate chief SK Mishra’s tenure, stating that that extension of officers after the age of superannuation “should be done only in rare and exceptional cases”.
The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance comes just three days ahead of the retirement of Mishra, a 1984-batch IRS officer.
Enforcement Directorate is a specialised financial investigation agency under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, which probes cases related to Foreign Exchange Laws and Regulations and money laundering.
Central Bureau of Investigation is the premier investigating agency under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, which investigates cases related to bribery, governmental corruption, breaches of central laws, multi-state organised crimes, economic crimes and other cases.
The ED chief is appointed by the Central government on the recommendation of a committee chaired by the Central Vigilance Commissioner and members comprising Vigilance Commissioners, Home Secretary, Secretary DOPT and Revenue Secretary.
The CBI director is selected on the basis of the recommendation of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Chief of Justice of India and the Leader of Opposition.
