Govt brings ED, CBI chiefs’ tenure extension Bills to LS

Oppposition cries foul

The government introduced two Bills in the Lok Sabha on Friday that seek to extend the tenures of the directors of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) up to a maximum of five years, amid protests from Opposition members, who said that the Bills were against the Supreme Court observations on the matter, and were being brought in to harass Opposition leaders from such agencies.

Minister of State for Personnel and Training Dr. Jitendra Singh introduced The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to replace ordinances that had been brought in the recess period.

Congress’s Shashi Tharoor raised objections to the two Bills, stating that it completely disregarded the Supreme Court’s observations that were clear in the view that extentions of tenure to superannuated officials should only be done in rare cases. The government’s move was mala fide.