ED CHIEF’S TENURE EXTENDED BY ONE MORE YEAR

The Central government on Wednesday extended the tenure of Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra by a year till 18 November 2022.

Mishra’s tenure as ED Director was also extended for a year in November last year after modifying his appointment order that was issued in 2018. “The President of India is pleased to extend the tenure of Sanjay Kumar Mishra as Director of Enforcement in the Enforcement Directorate for a period of one year beyond November 18, 2021, i.e., up to November 18, 2022, or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” the order issued by the Ministry of Finance read. Mishra, 61, is a 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service officer of the Income Tax cadre and was appointed the Enforcement Directorate chief on November 19, 2018.

His tenure ended last year for the ED Director’s post which comes with a fixed term of two years. The ED is a central investigative agency that enforces two central laws—the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

These laws were enacted to curb money laundering, terror financing, black money and hawala or illegal financial transactions that have cross-border ramifications. The Centre, earlier on Sunday, moved an ordinance that extends the tenure of Enforcement Directorate (ED) director and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director to five years. At present, Director of CBI and ED have been appointed for two-year tenure in office by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, 2003. President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the ordinance.