Respond in 6 weeks: SC to Centre on plea against 3rd extension to ED director

The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to respond to a plea challenging the third extension granted to enforcement director Sanjay Kumar Mishra within six weeks. In the petition, Congress leader Jaya Thakur has argued that the extension given to Mishra was in violation of the court’s orders and destroying the democratic process.

On November 17, the Centre extended the tenure of Mishra by another year till November 18, 2023. This was the third extension to Mishra. Aclutch of petitions challenging previous extensions to Mishra and two ordinances promulgated in November last year, increasing the tenures of the directors of CBI and ED to five years from two, are also pending in SC. The subsequent Parliament session in December last year had passed the bills to replace the ordinances.

The court in September this year appointed senior advocate KV Viswanathan as the amicus curiae to assist it in dealing with the pleas. On November 18, justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul recused himself from hearing a batch of petitions challenging the extension. The notice on Monday was issued by a bench comprising justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath.