Ordinance to extend terms of CBI, ED chiefs

November 15, 2021

Government of India has brought two ordinances to extend tenure of directors of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) for up to five years.

Key Points

Presently, the tenure for the chiefs of both the agencies is two years.
Government promulgated ‘The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 as well as Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021’ on November 14, 2021.
As per the ordinance, directors of CBI and ED cannot be removed before the end of their tenure.
A CBI or ED director can be appointed first for a period of two years. However, the tenure can be extended for three more years, if needed.
Extended three years terms will require three separate annual extensions.
No extension will be granted to an ED or CBI chief after completing a period of five years.

Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance 2021

As per this ordinance, period for which the Director of Enforcement holds the office, can be extended up to one year at a time on recommendation of the Committee under clause(a) of the ordinance. The reason for the same needs to be recorded in writing. No extension will be granted after a period of five years in total, adding the period mentioned in initial appointment.