New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed SK Mishra, the incumbent director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) to continue on the post till September 15. However, the Apex court stated clearly that there won’t be any extension in his service.
The extension in SK Mishra’s tenure till mid-September came in response to the Centre’s petition, which sought his extension on the post till October 2023.
While granting extension in ED chief’s stay at the helm, the Court was highly critical of the Centre. It asked the Centre’s counsel whether Mr SK Mishra was the only capable officer in the country to lead the invstigative agency.
The Centre approached the Apex Court on July 26 and urged it to extend the tenure of Sanjay Kumar Mishra till October 15, 2023 in wake of ongoing Financial Action Task Force (FATF) review.
The Centre, in its plea, had sought court’s permission for extension in SK Mishra’s service in light of ongoing FATF review.
“At such a critical juncture, it is essential to have an individual who is well-acquainted with the overall status of money laundering investigations and proceedings across the country and also the intricacies of the procedures, operations, and activities of the investigating agency, at the helm of affairs at the Directorate of Enforcement. This is necessary to ensure that the assessment team can be promptly and ably assisted with necessary reports, information, statistics, etc.,” the centre said in the plea.
