In that verdict, the Supreme Court had affirmed an earlier judgement of the Central government dated November 13, 2020, which made retrospective revisions to Mishra’s appointment order, increasing his term from two to three years.
Mishra was first appointed as the ED Director for a two-year term in November 2018. The two-year term expired in November 2020. In May 2020, he had reached the retirement age of 60.
However, on November 13, 2020, the Central Government issued an office order stating that the President had modified the 2018 order to the effect that a time of ‘two years’ was changed to a period of ‘three years.’ This was challenged at the Supreme Court by the NGO Common Cause.
The Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai held in September 2021 that the Central government has powers to make retrospective changes but it should be done only in the rarest of rare cases.
The Court had also said that the tenure of Mishra, which was set to expire, cannot be extended further.
After the Supreme Court’s decision last year, the Central government brought in an ordinance amending the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, empowering itself to extend the tenure of the ED Director up to five years.
This has now been challenged before the top court.
Source: Barandbench
