NEW DELHI, Sep 8 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with the extension of tenure given to the Director of Enforcement Directorate Sanjay Kumar Mishra.

The Court refused to interfere with the order passed by the Union Government on November 13, 2020 which retrospectively amended the appointment order of the present ED Director to give him one more year in office. He was set to retire from service in May this year.

Delivering judgment in the case Common Cause(A Registered Society) v. Union of India and others, a bench of Justices LN Rao and BR Gavai upheld the power of the Union of India to extend the tenure of ED Director beyond two years in "rare and exceptional circumstances". Such extension can be given to facilitate the ongoing investigation. The bench said that any extension of tenure during superannuation has to be for a short period and be granted for reasons recorded. The Court also added that the term of SK Mishra should not be extended any further. With the above observations, the Court dismissed the PIL filed by the NGO Common Cause.

"We've upheld the power of the Union of India to extend the tenure beyond two 2 years. However we hold that such power has to be extended only in rare circumstances. It can be given to facilitate ongoing investigation. Any extension of tenure during superannuation should be for a short period", Justice Rao read out the operative portion of the judgment.  Since Mishra's appointment is coming to an end in November 2021, no further extension be granted to him, the bench added. Full copy of the judgment is awaited.