The Supreme Court declared as “not valid in law” the two tenure extensions granted by the government to Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Director of Enforcement Directorate, beyond the September 8, 2021 cut-off date it had fixed.
Key points
- In November 2022, the 1984-batch IRS officer was granted a second tenure extension up to November 18, 2023.
- The top court, however, affirmed the amendments in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act and the Central Vigilance Commission Act, giving the Centre the power to extend the tenure of a CBI chief and ED director by a possible three years beyond their mandatory two-year term.
- On November 15, 2021, the Centre brought amendments to the CVC Act and the DSPE Act governing the appointment of heads of ED and CBI that allowed the government to extend the tenure of CBI, ED chiefs for a period of three years beyond their two-year tenure by granting extensions of one-year each.
- The changes to the CVC and DSPE Act were again challenged before the Supreme Court with the petitioners contending that it would defeat the directive it had issued in 1997 in Vineet Narain and Others v. Union of India and Another to have a fixed tenure of the CBI chief.
- On amendments made to the CVC Act, DSPE Act and Fundamental Rules in 2021, the judgement referred to the need to exercise self-imposed limits while undertaking judicial review of legislative or executive actions.
- The apex court said “it has been the consistent view of this Court that legislative enactment can be struck down only on two grounds. Firstly, that the appropriate legislature does not have the competence to make the law; and secondly, that it takes away or abridges any of the Fundamental Rights enumerated in Part III of the Constitution or any other constitutional provisions”.
