Government extends ED, CBI chiefs’ term for up to 5 yrs

The CBI and ED directors enjoy a fixed tenure of two years from the date of their appointment in the wake of the directives of the Supreme Court in the famous Vineet Narain case

The tenures of Directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can now be up to a maximum of five years from the present two years, according to two ordinances brought in by the government on Sunday. The CBI and ED directors enjoy a fixed tenure of two years from the date of their appointment in the wake of the directives of the Supreme Court in the famous Vineet Narain case.

The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, for the extension of ED chief’s tenure, comes barely three days ahead of the retirement of incumbent director Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a 1984-batch IRS officer. The government had given him an extension of one year in 2020 after the completion of his fixed term. The Supreme Court had heard the matter this year, and told the government not to give any further extension to Mishra beyond November 17.

However, with the promulgation of the ordinance it remains to be seen whether Mishra would continue as the ED chief or not, officials said. The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 was brought in to extend CBI director’s tenure. Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, appointed in May this year, is currently the CBI boss. 

Comes into effect at once

Both the ordinances, passed by President Ram Nath Kovind, comes into effect “at once”. Opposition parties the TMC and the CPI(M) on Sunday targeted the central government over extending the tenure of the CBI and the ED directors, asking why it could not wait for Parliament to be in session. The Parliament session begins on November 29. “How Modi-Shah’s BJP mock #Parliament and shamelessly use Ordinances. Same stunt repeated today to keep their pet parrots in ED and CBI,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien tweeted.

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