Case Title: Common Cause (A Registered Society) v. Union of India
According to the Supreme Court, the procedure outlined in Section 25 of the Central Vigilance Commission Act of 2003 can be used to nominate a Director of Enforcement for a term of more than two years.
The bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai also upheld the Union of India's authority to extend the tenure of the Director of Enforcement beyond two years. It was clarified that officers who have reached the age of superannuation should only be awarded tenure extensions in rare and extraordinary circumstances.
The bench made this observation in its decision not to interfere with the extension of tenure granted to the Director of the Enforcement Directorate, Sanjay Kumar Mishra. Though the bench did not interfere with his tenure extension, it did state that no additional extensions will be granted to him.
Mishra was appointed as Director of Enforcement for a two-year term beginning on the date he took over the position. The President of India accepted the amendment of the order dated 19.11.2018 by changing the appointment period from two to three years in an office order dated 13.11.2020.
The NGO Common Cause challenged this order, claiming that extending tenure to three years violates Section 25 of the CVC Act. It was argued that Section 25 (d), which provides for a two-year tenure for a Director of Enforcement, cannot be read to give the government the authority to prolong the tenure beyond two years.
The court stated, referring to Section 25(f) and previous judgments in this respect, that the minimum time of two years imposed in Section 25(d) is to prevent extraneous pressure.
"Prescription of a minimum period of two years is to ensure that the Director of Enforcement is not transferred or shifted from the said post during the investigation of serious offences. There is no ambiguity in Section 25 (d) of the CVC Act and the words 'not less than two years' simply mean a minimum of two years. There is no scope for reading the words to meaning not more than two years. Reading such a restriction would be contrary to the recommendations of the Independent Review Committee and the judgment of this Court in Vineet Narain. Curtailment of the tenure of a Director of Enforcement would be detrimental to the interests of officers who are appointed to the post and have service of more than two years before they attain the age of superannuation. Therefore, we hold that a Director of Enforcement can be appointed for more than two years by following the procedure prescribed under Section 25 of the CVC Act", the court said.