On November 14, the Centre moved an ordinance that allowed the tenure of the Central Bureau of Investigation director to be extended by up...
On November 14, the Centre moved an ordinance that allowed the tenure of the Central Bureau of Investigation director to be extended by up to five years. The position currently has a fixed tenure of two years.
A similar ordinance has extended the tenure of the director of the Enforcement Directorate.
Within four days of these ordinances, at least three petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court challenging these extensions. Many opposition leaders and former bureaucrats say that these piece-meal extensions undermine the independence of these institutions and increase government control over them.
The ordinances state that after a fixed tenure of two years, the tenure of the CBI and Enforcement Directorate chiefs could be extended for one year at a time “in [the] public interest”. The reasons for the extensions must be recorded writing.
These one-year extensions cannot be given after a director has served five years from the date of his initial appointment.
Petitions and criticism
Among the contentions of the petitions filed in the Supreme Court against the ordinances is that they allow the Central government to “effectively control” the CBI director.
One petitioner has said that the these “ad hoc and episodic” one-year extensions would harm the independent functioning of these agencies and would also take away the stability required to “protect them from...
