ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra's Tenure Ends, Rahul Navin Appointed In-Charge Chief

IRS officer Rahul Navin was appointed as in-charge director of the Enforcement Directorate on Friday on the completion of tenure of the incumbent Sanjay Kumar Mishra, officials said.

According to an official order, Navin, a 1993-batch IRS officer, will hold the charge till the appointment of a regular director or until further orders. Navin is currently the ED's special director.

The order stated that the President "is pleased to order the cessation of tenure of Sanjay Kumar Mishra...as Director of Enforcement in the Enforcement Directorate on 15.09.2023."

On July 26, the Supreme Court granted an extension of tenure to ED chief Mishra till September 15 but made it clear there would be no further extension.

The SC order came days after it had held as "illegal" two successive extensions of one year each granted to ED director Mishra, an IRS officer of 1984 cadre, saying these were in "breach" of its mandamus in the 2021 verdict that the IRS officer should not be given further term.

The 1984-batch IRS officer was otherwise to remain in office till November 18, 2023, according to the notification issued by the government.

The verdict on a batch of petitions, including those filed by Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Jaya Thakur, and TMC leaders Mahua Moitra and Saket Gokhale, challenging the extensions granted to Mishra.

Mishra was first appointed the ED director 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.