The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that the real purpose of a petition questioning the third extension given to Enforcement Directorate chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra is to protect Congress leaders who are facing money laundering charges, Bar and Bench reported.

In an affidavit, the Centre argued that the petition filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur is meant to garner political advantage because several Congress leaders, including the Gandhis, are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate.

Mishra was first appointed as the Enforcement Directorate director for a period of two years on November 19, 2018. He was set to demit office in November 2020 and in May that year Mishra had reached the retirement age of 60.

But through an order on November 13, 2020, the appointment letter was modified retrospectively by the Union government and Mishra’s term of two years was made three years. Subsequently, an NGO named Common Cause had challenged this before the Supreme Court.

In September 2021, the Supreme Court directed the government not to extend Mishra’s tenure any further, even as it approved the modification order.

In November, the government brought in two ordinances to ensure that the directors of the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation could have tenures of up to five years.

The Centre later gave the 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service officer his third extension in November 2022. Thakur moved the Supreme Court against this order, saying that repeated extensions are destroying the democratic process of the country.

However, the Centre in its affidavit on Friday alleged Thakur’s plea was meant to “scuttle the legitimate statutory investigation” being carried out against her party leaders.

The tenure of the chiefs of the two central agencies, the Centre added, “may need to be extended beyond the initial terms in special circumstances in public interest, depending upon the circumstances, on the recommendation of the committee prescribed under the respective statute and for the reasons be recorded in writing. There is no embargo that the term of director, CBI or ED cannot be more than two years.”

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