Centre seeks ED director Sanjay Kumar Mishra's tenure extension, SC to hear plea tomorrow

Days after the Supreme Court declared "illegal" the many extensions given to ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra, the government of India on Wednesday asked the court to grant him a stay of execution till October 15 on the grounds that his absence during the ongoing FATF review would be detrimental to India's national interests.

The government has filed a request for a revision of the ruling issued by the Supreme Court on July 11, according to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was speaking before a panel of Justices BR Gavai, Hima Kohli, and Prashant Kumar Mishra.

"That matter needs to be addressed urgently. Mehta addressed the bench, saying, "We need an urgent listing of the other application.

Justice Gavai stated that the three-judge panel that rendered the judgement on July 11—which also included Justices Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol—is now sitting in various configurations.

Justice Gavai instructed Mehta, "Let the registry request the Chief Justice of India for constituting a bench."

According to the solicitor general, this application needs to be considered by Friday, July 28, thus he asked the bench to list it on an urgent basis.

Following that, the bench decided to hear the case on Thursday at 3.30 PM.

On July 11, the Supreme Court declared Mishra's two consecutive one-year extensions "illegal" and declared that the Centre's instructions were in "breach" of its mandamus in the 2021 ruling that the IRS officer should not be allowed another term.

It had also shortened Mishra's tenure, which had been extended from November to July 31.

Mishra's tenure will last till July 31 in light of the peer review being done by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) this year and to facilitate a smooth transfer, according to a bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, and Sanjay Karol.

The government notification stated that the IRS officer from the 1984 batch would otherwise continue to serve until November 18, 2023.

FATF is a global organisation that directs efforts to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism.

The government asked for an extension of the time period from July 31, 2023, to October 15, 2023, in its request. "By way of the present application, the applicant-Union is seeking an extension of the date up to which the Respondent No. 2 (Sanjay Kumar Mishra) has been permitted to continue in office," the government stated.

According to the statement, the Union of India is required to approach the Supreme Court in order to request an extension "in light of the ongoing FATF Review, which is at a critical stage where submissions on effectiveness have been made on July 21, 2023, and on-site visit is scheduled to be conducted in November, 2023."

The government gave the following justification for Mishra's retention: "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."

In order to provide the evaluation team with the appropriate reports, information, statistics, etc., it was said that this was necessary.

"Any leadership change at the Directorate of Enforcement at this time would significantly impede the agency's ability to provide necessary assistance to and cooperation with the assessment team and, as a result, have a negative impact on India's national interests," the statement read.

The examined country is responsible for determining technical conformity and system effectiveness, and any failure to do so could have a negative effect on the outcome of the mutual evaluation. The government stated that the incumbent Director would need to continue at this time due to the aforementioned reasons.

It was stressed that Mishra has been working on document preparation and other needs for mutual review since the year 2020 began, so his continued participation in this challenging and delicate process is crucial.

Sanjay Kumar Mishra, the second respondent, has been asked to extend his term until October 15, 2023, according to the application. "It is under the aforesaid peculiar circumstances that the Union of India has approached this Court by way of the present application," the application stated.

According to establishment insiders, the administration believes that the restriction order will serve as a "deterrent" against officers who take action against corruption at the highest levels.

A group of petitions, including those brought by TMC leaders Mahua Moitra and Saket Gokhale, Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Jaya Thakur, and others, challenging the extensions handed to Mishra, have been heard by the bench.

Mishra, 63, began serving as the ED director on November 19, 2018, for a period of two years. Later, the central government retroactively altered the appointment letter, increasing his two-year tenure to three years, by decree dated November 13, 2020.

The government also passed a legislation last year that allows the ED and CBI directors' terms to be extended by up to three years after the initial two-year limit.