Opposition opposes introduction of Bills amending tenure of CBI, ED Directors

Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also opposed the Bill saying that it gives a free will to the government to extend the tenure whenever it feels like. He also described this Bill  'undemocratic'

The Opposition parties on Friday opposed the introduction of The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seek amendment in the tenure of the Director ED and CBI respectively.

The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks the extension of service tenure of Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) from a fixed tenure of two years to five years.

Opposing the government's move, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that this Bill has been brought in by the Ordinance rules, which is against the law. He also said that the extension of tenure should be granted only under rare circumstances, but after this Bill, it will make it a norm, hence he opposed the introduction of the Bill.

Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also opposed the Bill saying that it gives a free will to the government to extend the tenure whenever it feels like. He also described this Bill 'undemocratic'.

The Revolutionary Socialist Party MP N.K. Premachandran also opposed the Bill and asked about the reason to extend any officer's tenure. He also said that this Bill lacked bonafide intentions. He also said that the intention involved was to protect the officer who is on good terms with the government.

Also read: CBI, ED directors can now have tenures of up to 5 years; Govt issues two ordinances

Trinamool MP Sougata Ray and Congress MP Suresh Kodikunnil were among the other MPs who opposed the introduction of the Bill.

The opposition also objected to the introduction of the 'Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which was moved by Jitendra Singh in the House.

Opposing the move, the Trinamool MP Sougata Ray and Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the Union government is misusing the Central probe agencies.

Chowdhury even went on to say that it was demoralising the police force as the extension will stop the promotional avenues to other senior officials.

Responding to the objections of the Opposition Members, the Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh of Department of Personnel and Training said that the clause has been misinterpreted and the Opposition has not understood what the law in actual entails. "I wish that you go through the contents, and give it a fair thought before opposing it altogether. We will talk about the Bill during the discussion, this is just an introduction," Singh said, adding that the opposition does not have patience to listen to the House.

However, despite the Opposition's protest, the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha.

The Centre on November 14, 2021, brought ordinances to extend the tenure of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) directors beyond its two year fixed term up to five years.

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