ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra to step down today. All you need to know

livemint.com:

Sanjay Kumar Mishra will be attending the government agency's office as its chief for the last time today. The Centre had sought from Supreme Court of India that Mishra's tenure be extended till 15 October, which the top court granted, albeit reducing a month from the demand. The Supreme Court in July had noted that SK Mishra's tenure as the ED chief would be extended till 15 September in view of ‘national interest’.

The court had clarified that no further application seeking an extension would be entertained. Sixty two year old Sanjay Mishra had become an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer in 1984. Prior to his stint as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stint, Mishra was posted as chief commissioner of Income Tax in Delhi.

Mishra hails from Uttar Pradesh and is said to have investigated several high-level cases in Income Tax brilliantly. Sanjay Kumar Mishra was first appointed interim Director of the ED for three months in October 2018 before he was made the full-time chief in November 2018 for a two-year fixed tenure. Following procedure, Mishra's tenure was coming to an end in 2020, when Union government quietly extended it with retrospective effect, making it a three-year tenure against the initial two years.

Notably, by this time Mishra had attained superannuation in the interregnum. This was challenged before the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2021 that there should not be any further extension to him, which prompted the Centre to bring in an Ordinance for his continuation at the post. He is only the second bureaucrat for whom this government brought an Ordinance to keep him in the position.