The Centre on May 8 told the Supreme Court that the third extension of service granted to Enforcement Directorate (ED) director, Sanjay Kumar Mishra, was due to a peer review being conducted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) this year and that tenure will end in November this year.
The top court bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the extensions granted to Sanjay Kumar Mishra. Sanjay Kumar Mishra is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the 1984 batch.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said, “This officer is not some DGP of any State but an officer representing the country in a United Nation-like body (that is FATF) and is in the midst of something. This court must not interfere with his tenure, and from November onwards, he will not be there”.
“He said Sanjay Kumar Mishra was given an extension as the FATF peer review is taking place in the country, and some guidelines need to be followed. FATF is a global anti-money laundering and terrorist …financing watchdog”.
Moreover, SG Tushar Mehta said, “He has been overseeing some important investigations related to money laundering, and his continuity was required in the interest of the nation”.
On November 15, 2021, the Centre brought amendments to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act and the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act governing the appointment of heads of ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
This allowed the Government to extend the tenure of CBI and ED chiefs for a period of three years beyond their two-year tenure by granting extensions of one-year each.
These amendments were challenged in a clutch of petitions before the Supreme Court, filed by Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala, Jaya Thakur, and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, among others.
To a specific query from the bench, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “It is not a case that he is not dispensable or if an extension is given then some other person’s chances of getting to the top position is compromised. There is no second or third person here. Appointment of ED director is a very rigorous process and a person is selected from a common pool of officers from IAS, IPS, IRS or others and he is to be in the rank of additional chief secretary”.
The ED is, of course, several high-profile and politically sensitive cases in various States.
Tushar Mehta submitted before the top court that it was ‘not out of likeness’ for a particular individual but concerns over the performance of the country during the FATF review that decided the move.
“It was not love for one particular individual but the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has trans-border implications. India is due for peer review by FATF which happens once in 10 years. A person
interacting with FATF is best suited to deal with them,” he said, adding, “Sometimes, continuity is needed when you are dealing with world bodies. What is paramount was the performance of our country (in the review). It is not our case that he (Mishra) is indispensable”.
“Arguments heard. Order reserved,” the bench said. It asked the petitioners to file their written submissions by Friday.
The ED falls under the Union finance ministry’s Department of Revenue. It was formed in 1957 to look into cases of foreign exchange-related violations, a civil provision. But in 2002, after the introduction of the PMLA, it started taking up cases of financial fraud and money laundering, which were of criminal nature.
The ED was the first to move an extradition request for businessman Nirav Modi for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.
Among others, the ED is also investigating the Vijay Mallya bank loan default case, the Saradha chit fund scam and Rose Valley chit fund case of West Bengal, the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, the Coal blocks allocation scam and the INX Media case.
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