Solicitor General Tushar Mehta raised the petition before the Justice BR Gavai-led bench, requesting an immediate hearing...
Digital Desk: The Central Government took the case to Supreme Court on Wednesday to extend the mandate of incumbent Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sanjay Kumar Mishra, who was ordered by the top court to resign by July 31.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta raised the petition before the Justice BR Gavai-led bench, requesting an immediate hearing.
The Court agreed to hear the plea on Thursday at 3.30 p.m., as requested.
On July 11, this year, a three-judge Supreme Court bench comprised of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, and Sanjay Karol overturned Mishra's prior extension because it violated the Supreme Court's 2021 judgement.
The Supreme Court said in the case that Mishra could not be granted an extension beyond November 20, 2021.
Mishra was originally appointed ED Director for a two-year term in November 2018. This term will come to an end in November 2020.
On November 13, 2020, the Central government released an office order declaring that the President had updated the 2018 order, changing the time of "two years" to "three years." The NGO Common Cause contested the issue in front of the Supreme Court.
The change was approved by the Supreme Court in a September 2021 decision, but it declined to grant Mishra any further extensions.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act was amended by an ordinance the Central government passed in 2021 in response to the Court's ruling, granting it the authority to increase the ED Director's term by up to five years.
However, it overturned Mishra's extension on the grounds that it violated the 2021 judgement.
As a result, it requested that the Central Government select a new director by July 31.
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