Enforcement Directorate chief S.K. Mishra will continue as the director of the central anti-money laundering agency till November 18, 2022 with the President extending his tenure for one year, said an order issued by the department of revenue under the ministry of finance.
The order came hours before Mishra’s extended tenure at ED was to end on November 17. The government has dug in its heels over the appointments of the CBI and ED directors despite red flags raised by the Supreme Court, by bringing two Ordinances to give them a maximum tenure of five years each from the present two years. The latest Ordinance said the directors of ED and CBI can hold the office for a five year period in public interest or upon the recommendation of the appointing committee but the extension of tenure will be up to “one year at a time”.
Mishra took the reins of ED in October 2018. After he completed two years in office, he was given an extension last year after the revenue department modified the 2018 order of his appointment. It said that his appointment will be for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Mishra was to complete his extended tenure in November and rumblings had already begun in the power corridors whether he should be given another extension to complete the pending investigations that were put on fast pedal under his charge like the crucial extradition cases of Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and Mehul Choksi, besides the money laundering cases against high profile accused from Kashmir to Kerala.
Mishra is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer though the post of ED director has seen a string of IAS and IPS officers at the helm for decades.
The government’s move to extend Mishra’s tenure last year had generated a lot of controversy. Recently, the Supreme Court, hearing a petition filed by the NGO Common Cause, said that the government cannot continue extending the tenure of the ED chief till the agency completes investigation of all crucial cases. The top court's observation came after it was told that the success achieved in crucial money laundering cases under the present ED director was one of the reasons for extending his tenure by a year in 2020.
But there are precedents where the ED director has held the post for four years as well. It was senior IAS officer Arun Mathur who held the charge as ED director for four years from 2008 to 2012. He was at the helm of the crucial 2G spectrum case investigations and handled a few other major corruption cases, too, during the UPA tenure.
This was probably the longest tenure of any ED director since the time the agency got its teeth through the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, a law that came into force in 2005 and has since transformed the Enforcement Directorate into a powerful central agency.
Mishra's predecessor, senior IPS officer Karnal Singh held the post of ED director for three years. However, he held the additional charge as ED director for one year during this period. Before Singh, another IAS officer Sudhir Nath had held the charge from 2005 to 2008.
Interestingly, Mishra has spent close to seven years in totality in ED—more than any of his predecessors—which has acquainted him with the functioning of the organisation at all levels.
His first stint in ED was between 1989 and 1993 when he was the assistant director in ED—a post that is now equivalent to a deputy director. The IRS officer's appointment as ED director added another three years of total time spent in ED.
Those close to Mishra say that he is an officer who keeps a low profile and has kept the ED under tight grip, removing errant officers, dealing firmly against accused skipping summons and handling politically sensitive cases in ways that have ruffled the opposition time and again.
The fresh move of the government to give him yer another extension, under the Ordinance, is expected to generate some political heat when the Parliament session begins next month. The government may bring the Ordinance in the upcoming session. An Ordinance must be approved by both houses of Parliament in order to become a law. But any legislative decision taken by the government under the Ordinance stands valid since it’s signed by the President .
Former CBI special director M.L. Sharma said that the central probe agencies have been demanding for long to give longer tenures to their chiefs so that it will give them more time to complete investigations, usher in reforms, fill up vacancies and streamline the working of the agency to meet present challenges. For example, during Mathur’s tenure, India got membership of the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-terror financing watchdog, due to his efforts.
However, some others felt giving an extension to chiefs of investigating agencies can be seen as an attempt by the ruling party to use them for scoring political gains. It also leaves scope for public servants to endear themselves to the government of the day in order to get the yearly extensions.
It can also bring criticism to the government which is seen as handpicking officers—like the recent decision of appointing Rakesh Asthana as Delhi police commissioner days ahead of his retirement as BSF chief. But the fact that Asthana's appointment happened despite opposition from some quarters has left room for speculation on how much the opposition parties will be able to resist Mishra’s extension.