Govt mulling 'legal options' on re-appointment of Mishra as ED chief

New Delhi: The government is mulling legal options for the re-appointment of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Director S.K. Mishra, who is set to retire next week, sources said on Thursday.

The post of ED Director is an Additional Secretary rank post in the Union government. Mishra had taken over from Karnail Singh in October 2018.

According to sources, the government is looking at the options if a retired government official can be re-appointed to the rank of Additional Secretary to the government, which is a mandatory requirement to be eligible for the post of ED chief.

The source said that as Mishra is set to retire, the government is mulling the idea if a retired officer on the rank of Assistant Secretary can be re-appointed as the Director of the financial probe agency.

As per the laid down rules, no person below the rank of Additional Secretary is eligible for appointment as the Director and the person appointed has a fixed term of not less than two years.

Mishra, a 1984 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the Income Tax cadre, was appointed the chief of ED in an additional capacity for three months On October 27, 2018.

Mishra, who was earlier posted as the Chief Commissioner of the Income Tax Department in Delhi was not empanelled as an Additional Secretary in the Central government and hence was given the charge of ED in an additional capacity.

However, on November 17, 2018, an order issued by the ACC headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a two-year tenure to Mishra "from the date of assumption of the charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier".

In December last year, he was promoted to the level of Secretary to the Union government.

"If he is re-appointed as the Director of ED, he will the first person to assume the charge on the rank of Assistant Secretary after retirement," the source said.

Earlier, the government had extended the tenure of Karnail Singh as ED chief thrice.

The source said that there are several contenders for the top post of the financial probe agency, which has undertaken several high profile cases.