SC to hear petitions challenging Centre’s decision to extend tenure

The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will hear on March 21 the petitions challenging the Centre’s decision dated November 17, 2022, whereby the government had extended for the third time the tenure of director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sanjay Kumar Mishra. A bench of justices BR Gavai and Aravind Kumar listed the matter for March 21. Last week, the Centre in its affidavit defended its decision to extend the tenure of the ED director and said that petition challenging it is motivated and urged the top court to dismiss the plea. The Central government submission came on an affidavit filed countering the submission of the petition challenging the extension of the ED director. Centre informed the SC that the petition is clearly motivated by an oblique personal interest rather than any public interest litigations. The Centre also said that the petition is a misuse of Article 32 of the Constitution, which is clearly being filed in a representative capacity for and on behalf of the President and the office bearers of the Indian National Congress, who are being investigated by ED and are otherwise fully competent to approach respective courts for appropriate statutory relief and remedy under the Code of Criminal Procedure.