ED special director Rahul Navin appointed as acting director of law enforcement agency
- Rahul Navin replaced Sanjay Kumar Mishra who stepped down on Friday which was the Supreme Court mandated deadline for his tenure as ED director
The government on Friday appointed special director Rahul Navin as the acting director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till the appointment of a regular Director or until further orders. Rahul Navin replaced Sanjay Kumar Mishra who stepped down on Friday which was the Supreme Court-mandated deadline for his tenure.
Rahul Navin, a 1993-batch IRS officer is the acting director of the ED until further orders. Previously, Rahul Navin has also served as the chief vigilance officer of the ED headquarters.
“The President is pleased to order the cessation of tenure of Shri Sanjay Kumar Mishra, IRS(IT:1984) as Director of Enforcement in the Enforcement Directorate on 15.09.2023 and placing Shri Rahul Navin, IRST:1993) Special Director, Enforcement Directorate as in-charge Director, Enforcement Directorate till appointment of a regular Director or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” the Ministry of Finance said in the order.
Sanjay Kumar Mishra finally steps down
The appointment of the director of the Enforcement Directorate was watched closely as the Centre was reluctant to let Sanjay Kumar Mishra superannuate. He was appointed by the government as the director of the law enforcement agency in 2018 for a two-year tenure, but the government kept extending his tenure with the help of procedural changes.
During this time, the Centre also brought an ordinance that allowed the tenures of ED and CBI directors to occupy offices for a period of up to 5 years. Sanjay Kumar Mishra's continuation in the post of director of ED was challenged in the Supreme Court several times and during the hearing, the apex court pulled the government.
"Are we not giving a picture that there is no other person and the entire department is full of incompetent people?" the Supreme Court bench noted.
During his tenure, ED has been very active against politicians (mostly Opposition parties). The law enforcement agency uncovered various money laundering cases and several politicians are lodged in jail in the alleged financial crimes.