The Central government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court with a fresh application seeking an extension of the term of the chief of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Sanjay Kumar Mishra.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, on behalf of the Centre, urged a bench headed by Justice Gavai to hear an application filed with respect to its judgement.

"I am circulating one miscellaneous application. There is some prayer we are making which will have to persuade Your Lordships on this side... before Friday," Mehta told the court.

The bench agreed to list the application on Thursday (tomorrow) at 3.30 pm.

Earlier on July 11, the Supreme Court had said that the third extension to Sanjay Kumar Mishra's tenure as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief was "illegal" and in violation of its judgment in 2021.

The top court, however, permitted him to continue in office until July 31 to allow for a "smooth transfer".

Mishra, a 1984-batch IRS officer, was to remain in office until November 18, 2023, according to a notification issued by the government.

The Central government was embroiled in a prolonged political controversy over its decision to extend ED chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra’s tenure, who was first appointed in November 2018.

According to the appointment order, he was set to retire two years later (upon reaching the age of 60 years).

However, in November 2020, the government revised the order, increasing his tenure from two years to three years.

The Supreme Court was moved to examine the validity of this retrospective revision and extension of Mishra's tenure by an additional year in Common Cause v. Union of India. A division bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao held that extensions could only be granted in 'rare and exceptional cases' for a short period of time.

While affirming the move to extend Mishra's tenure, the Supreme Court cautioned that no further extension was to be granted to the chief of the Enforcement Directorate.

In November 2021, three days before Mishra was about to retire, two ordinances were promulgated by the President of India, amending the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 and the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003.

These ordinances eventually culminated into bills that were approved by the Parliament in December. On the strength of these amendments, the tenure of both the CBI and ED Directors could now be extended by one year at a time till the completion of five years from the initial appointment.

In November of last year, Mishra was given another one-year extension, which was challenged before the top court now.

In April of this year, the Supreme Court of India invalidated the term extension given to ED chief SK Mishra, even as it upheld the validity of the 2021 amendments.

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