Supreme Court judge, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, on Friday recused himself from hearing a series of petitions challenging the “piecemeal” one-year extension in service the government is granting Directorate of Enforcement (ED) Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
The case was referred back to the Chief Justice of India for listing it before another Bench of the court.
The case had come up before a Bench of Justices Kaul and A.S. Oka, a day after the Centre had given the 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service officer his third extension. He is expected to continue till November 18, 2023.
In an earlier hearing, the government had questioned the bona fide of the political leaders who had filed public interest litigation petitions about the tenure extensions granted to the ED chief. The petitioners in turn argued that such service extensions had the tendency to affect the independent functioning of officers heading agencies which investigate sensitive cases.
The petitioners include Congress party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, and social activist and general secretary of Madhya Pradesh Congress Mahila Committee Jaya Thakur. Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, for Mr. Surjewala, had submitted that fixity of tenure for the ED Director was an essential ingredient of his functional independence.
