The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 11 July, ruled that the extension granted to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra is illegal on grounds that it violated the top court's 2021 judgment in the Common Cause case.
The court, however, upheld the amendments to the CVC Act & the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
The order was passed by a bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, and Sanjay Karol.
Here are a few highlights from the order:
The apex court's reason for dubbing Sanjay Kumar's extension illegal:
And why did the apex court uphold the amendments?
And when can this such extensions be carried out?
What else did the court say in defence of its decision?
The Controversy & The Case
Opposition leaders, among others, have alleged that since the Modi government first assumed power in 2014, central investigating agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been used to target opposition leaders and silence dissenting voices.
“Modi Govt uses ED-CBI as henchmen to usurp power and destabilise elected governments. Raids by ED, CBI on the opposition leaders has become a norm. Now, these henchmen are being empowered and rewarded with 5 years tenure, so that malicious prosecution is used to silence dissenting voices," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, who is also one of the petitioners in the case, had said.
“The extensions are illegal and contrary to the line of judgments. It is not about the incumbent at all but the principle behind such extensions,” Amicus curiae KV Vishwanathan – who has since been elevated as a Supreme Court judge - had told the apex court.
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