Sanjay Kumar Mishra is an Indian government official. He is the Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Wiki/Biography
Sanjay Kumar Mishra was born in 1960 in Lucknow, India (age 63 in 2024). Mishra pursued a master’s degree in biochemistry from Lucknow University in Uttar Pradesh, India. He is a senior researcher at the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) and author of research papers on the topic of immunology. Mishra then took the civil services examination, which he passed on the first try.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′4″
Hair color: gray
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
There is not much information about his parents and siblings.
Profession
Mishra served as an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer in 1984. His first posting with the IRS was as Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Later, he served as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi. Thereafter, he was appointed as a member of the Enforcement Directorate and then returned to the Income Tax Department in 1994, posting in Ahmedabad (then Maharashtra). In 2006, he was posted to Delhi where he was responsible for international tax and transfer pricing. When he was working in the Income Tax Department, he had handled two cases that came to the attention of the government, one against NDTV and another against Young Indian. The cases started out as tax assessments, which Mishra converted into prosecutable offences. Mishra was subsequently appointed as joint secretary in the finance ministry. He also works in the Ministry of Interior.
law enforcement bureau
Sanjay Kumar Mishra initially joined the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as Assistant Director, Agra and Jaipur. In 1994, he returned to pay income taxes for nine years. In October 2018, Mishra was appointed as principal special director, ED and acting director, ED, for a period of three months or until the post is filled.
Cabinet Appointments Committee approves appointment of Mishra as member of Enforcement Directorate
Mishra was appointed as Director of Education on November 19, 2018. Although his term was only for two years, the central government passed an order in November 2020 that, in simple terms, gave the government the power to extend his term. They extended Mishra’s term by one year. Misra gained prominence through his involvement in the government’s anti-corruption efforts. The government extended his term twice. The Center extended Mishra’s tenure for the second time in 2021 till November 2022. In 2022, the government passed a law allowing the Center to extend Misra’s tenure by three years beyond the mandatory three years. In 2023, the government issued a notification that its term would last until November 18, 2023. Opposition parties filed a petition in the Supreme Court claiming that the Center was taking advantage of its position. The Supreme Court ruled that the extension was illegal and allowed Mishra to stay in office till July 31, 2023.
The Center moved the Supreme Court seeking extension of the tenure of Enforcement Directorate Sanjay Kumar Mishra. The SC hearing will be held on July 27. SK Mishra’s tenure as ED director will end on July 31 as per Supreme Court verdict pic.twitter.com/RoNgeDtgzS
— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2023
The Center again moved a plea for extension and the Supreme Court granted extension till September 15, 2023. Under his leadership, the ED was dubbed the “new CBI” for its fast-track investigations into cases of financial fraud and money laundering involving politicians. Under Mishra’s leadership, the ED reportedly targeted assets worth Rs 65,000 crore through more than 2,000 raids in just four years. It is alleged that from 2018 to 2023, Mishra conducted about 3,000 searches and registered about 4,000 cases.
Notable Investigations
During his tenure, Misra was responsible for handling cases against many high-profile individuals, especially opposition politicians and activists. The education ministry has launched an investigation against P. Chidambaram (former finance minister), Sharad Pawar and Anil Deshmukh (from the Nationalist Congress Party) and V. Senthil Balaji (member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council), among others. They also investigated activists such as Harsh Mander, journalist Siddique Kappan and media company NewsClick.
dispute
Controversy surrounding multiple extensions
Sanjay Kumar Mishra is facing controversies in 2023 for his multiple extensions to the post of Director, Enforcement Directorate (ED). Although Mishra initially served as interim director and was subsequently appointed to complete a two-year term from 2018 to 2020, the central government extended the term thrice beyond his retirement age.
Sanjay Kumar Mishra (eighth from right) is appointed interim director of the Enforcement Directorate
Many opposition parties filed petitions in India’s Supreme Court challenging an amendment proposed by the central government to extend Misra’s tenure. The government responded that Mishra’s tenure had to be extended as he was needed to resolve ongoing cases. Centrists dismissed objections from other parties as motivated and lacking in merit. They feel that failure to extend the tenure of ED or CBI directors may slow down the country’s fight against corruption and money laundering. They said it was important to maintain continuity of effective operations. Supreme Court issues statement questioning ED’s ability,
Doesn’t this give the impression that there is no one else and that the entire department is filled with incompetent people? ”
Despite controversies and a Supreme Court ruling against further extensions, the government has repeatedly extended Mishra’s term. During his tenure, the education ministry, under Mishra, investigated several high-profile cases involving opposition figures, but critics accused the government of selectively targeting its political opponents. Opposition parties are undeterred and accuse the government of abuse of power. The Supreme Court ruled that the extension was illegal and said Mishra must resign as director. The Center again sought extension of Mishra’s tenure till October and the Supreme Court allowed the extension till September 15, 2023, a month less than the Centre’s demand.
Facts/Trivia
- Mishra follows intermittent fasting.
- Mishra hates social media and tries to keep his life out of the public eye.
- Mishra is an avid reader. He enjoys reading Urdu poetry by Mirza Ghalib, Qateel Shifai and Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
- Mishra runs a distance of 10 kilometers every day. Speaking about his health habits, an ER official said:
Sometimes his meetings would last more than an hour, with him standing the entire time. So we ended up standing up too. ”
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education