NEW DELHI: The BJP and the Congress clashed on Tuesday over the Supreme Court holding the Centre's order extending the tenure of Enforcement Director (ED) director Sanjay Kumar Mishra as illegal.
While Union home minister Amit Shah said whoever assumes the role of ED director will take cognisance of the “rampant corruption of a cozy club of entitled dynasts who have an anti-development mindset”, the Congress questioned the capacity in which he commented on ED who reports to the finance minister.
Hours after the apex court’s orders on the ED director, Shah said in a tweet, “Those rejoicing over the Hon'ble SC decision on the ED case are delusional for various reasons: The amendments to the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) Act, which were duly passed by Parliament, have been upheld.”
Obviously training his guns at the Congress, the home minister said, “Powers of the ED to strike at those who are corrupt and on the wrong side of the law remain the same.
ED is an institution that rises beyond any one individual and is focused on achieving its core objective – to investigate offences of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws. Thus, who the ED director is – that is not important because whoever assumes this role will take note of the rampant corruption of a cozy club of entitled dynasts who have an anti-development mindset.”
Within minutes, the Congress responded to Shah’s remarks on the ED. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera tagged the home minister’s tweet and said, “Why is the home minister commenting on an agency that technically reports to the ministry of finance?”
Khera said, “Does it not show that barring two people, the rest of the cabinet is unemployed? If who the director of ED does not matter to you, why was the current incumbent given two extensions and why was your government fighting for a third?”
Earlier, the Congress said the Supreme Court verdict against the two orders granting extensions to ED chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra is a vindication of its stand and a slap on the government's face.
The opposition party also demanded that an independent investigation be instituted to scrutinse all actions taken by ED after November 17, 2021, when Mishra was granted the extension.
The Congress accused the government of indulging in "open and unabashed misuse" of the office of ED Director to fulfil its "malicious political objectives" and asked it to apologise.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that the orders dated November 17, 2021 and November 17, 2022 granting extensions of one year each to Mishra are "illegal" and curtailed his tenure to July 31. The 1984-batch IRS officer was otherwise to remain in office till November 18, 2023.
It, however, affirmed the amendments of the CVC Act, and the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act to extend the tenure of ED director for a maximum of five years.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala, who had filed one of the petitions in the case in the Supreme Court, claimed that it has now become clear how the government is "misusing" agencies to target the opposition leaders and destabilise elected governments in non-BJP-ruled states.
He said the apex court needs to reconsider the decision upholding the validity of the law on the extension of tenure of ED and CBI directors.
"This is a victory of justice and vindication of our stand on brazen misuse and compromise of ED for political vendetta as also the blatant pursuit of Modi Government's desperate and obvious agenda," he said on Twitter.
"This is a serious and historic indictment of the Modi Government, which was so desperate to have its choice of ED Chief (for reasons apparent to all) that it completely disregarded all norms of justice, equity and fairness to install its ‘yes man'," he alleged.
The Congress leader claimed that "in view of the said observation of the SC, all actions taken by ED after 17.11.2021 automatically become illegal, null and void."
"Thus, we demand that an independent investigation (independent of influence and pressure of Modi Government) be constituted to scrutinse all actions by ED post 17.11.2021," he said.
The ED, "which has already faced devastating allegations to its credibility, must reject the interference of the Modi Government or risk its legacy being permanently tarnished and demolished beyond retrieval", he said.
"We had hoped that the SC would strike down the law which allows such abuses of the process to take place, but for now the SC has let it stand. Nonetheless, we will continue to expose, challenge, and fight to the fullest all such attempts as the Modi Government may launch to try and undermine our democracy and our institutions," Surjewala said.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said his party has maintained from the beginning that the extension of tenure of the ED director is "totally illegal".
"The Congress party's stand has been vindicated. The government has been exposed today," he said.
The apex court bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol said in view of the peer review being conducted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) this year and to enable a smooth transition, Mishra's tenure will be till July 31.
The bench gave the verdict on a batch of petitions, including those filed by Surjewala and TMC's Mahua Moitra and Saket Gokhale.
Mishra, 62, was first appointed the director of the ED for two years on November 19, 2018. Later, by an order dated November 13, 2020, the central government modified the appointment letter retrospectively and his two-year term was changed to three years.
"The motive was to extend the term of the ED director through illegal means. This (SC order) is actually a clear slap on the face of the government," Venugopal told reporters.
The government promulgated an ordinance last year under which the tenure of the ED and CBI chiefs could be extended by up to three years after the mandated term of two years.
(With PTI inputs)
