ED chief will not be given a 4th tenure extension: Govt tells SC

Digital Desk: The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that the director of the Enforcement Directorate, Sanjay Kumar Mishra, will not be given another extension of service beyond November. 

It was only because of the ongoing examination by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that he received a third extension, it reiterated. While reserving its judgement in pleas challenging tenure extensions, a bench led by Justice B R Gavai wondered if the FATF perspective was an afterthought.

"This officer (Mishra) is not some DGP from any state, but an officer representing the country in a United Nations-like body who is in the midst of something. This court should not interfere with his tenure. This officer will be unable to continue after November 2023. However, the FATF's peer review is currently underway. It was planned to happen in 2019, but couldn't because of COVID... Nobody is independent. No organisation becomes inefficient in the absence of a single individual, but the presence of an officer who has led the institution for the past three years makes a difference," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted before the bench.