Kapil Sibal questions Amit Shah on his 'who is ED director not important' remark

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on July 12 criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his comments that it is not important who the director of the Enforcement Directorate is, questioning why did the government then give a third extension to the agency's chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra.

In his tweet, Sibal further accused the ED chief of favouritism by writing, 'Some individuals serve the political interests of the party in power!'

Sibal’s remark comes a day after the Supreme Court called two successive one-year extensions given to Enforcement Directorate chief Mishra illegal stating that the Centre's orders were in violation of its 2021 verdict that another term should not have been granted to Mishra.

The Supreme Court's judgement came as a setback to the Centre, even though it upheld the amendments made to the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003, The Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, and the Fundamental Rules in 2021, enabling the tenure extension.

Mishra was appointed ED director for the first time on November 19, 2018. On November 13, 2020, the central government increased his two-year term to three years by amending the appointment letter retrospectively.

(with PTI inputs)