The Supreme Court has questioned the extensions given to Enforcement Director (ED) Sanjay Kumar Mishra and asked the the Centre whether he is "indispensable" and there is no other qualified officer in the investigating agency.
The court made its comments after the Centre defended its choice to grant Mishra extensions by noting that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the actions India has taken will be examined by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international watchdog.
Appearing before a bench of Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, solicitor general Tushar Mehta contended that there was no mala fide in granting extension and told the court that the present director’s continuance in office was needed as a peer review group of FATF is about to visit the country to examine steps taken by the country to tackle the menace of money laundering and international financial terrorism.
But the bench asked: “Do you want to say that there is no other person in ED who can do the task. He cannot continue after November 2023 and what will happen if the group visits the country after that. . . Is he so indispensable for ED and there is no other competent officer in the agency. ”
Responding to the court, the SG said that he did not mean that Mishra is indispensable and said that the country survived not only assassinations of two sitting PMs and Mahatma Gandhi. He clarified that in view of the repercussions, continuity should be maintained and the person who is aware of the system be allowed to complete the task instead of bringing a new person.