New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held the extensions given to Enforcement Directorate chief S.K. Mishra after its own order barring further extensions as invalid.A three-judge bench of Justices B.R. Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, however, allowed Mishra to continue in his post till July 31, 2023, considering the fact that the Union government had said that the international terror financing watchdog FATF’s peer review process can be best overseen by Mishra.In May, when Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told the apex court that FATF’s once-in-a-decade peer review of India’s performance in curbing terror financing necessitated Mishra’s extension, Justice Gavai had asked if there was no other person in the “entire organisation competent to discharge these responsibilities.”“Even if we accepted your argument, what will happen beyond 2023 when Mishra finally retires?” Justice Gavai had further asked.Mishra was first appointed the director of the ED for two years on November 19, 2018. Later, by an order dated November 13, 2020, the Union government modified the appointment letter retrospectively and his two-year term was changed to three years.In September 2021, the Supreme Court bench of Justice L. Nageswara Rao upheld the extension, saying that such retroactive revisions are only allowed in the “rarest of rare cases” but that no further extension can be given to Mishra.Even though the Supreme Court ordered no further extensions, the Union government issued a notification paving the way for a second extension for Mishra from November 17, 2021 to November 17, 2022. When Congress leader Jaya Thakur moved court against this, the government gave him a third extension, till November 18, 2023.Meanwhile, the government promulgated an ordinance last year under which the tenure of ED and CBI chiefs could be extended by up to three years after the mandated term of two years.The amendment to the Central Vigilance Commission Act was also challenged afresh in the apex court in the batch of petitions, including those filed by Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Jaya Thakur, and Trinamool Congress’s Mahua Moitra and Saket Gokhale.LiveLaw has reported that the apex court has upheld the above amendments made to the Central Vigilance Commission Act and the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, asking for sufficient safeguards nonetheless.It noted that the scope of judicial review over legislation is very limited. “Extension can be granted to high-level officials in the public interest and with reasons in writing,” the bench said.The report said that the court held that the extensions were clearly in the teeth of its Common Cause judgment. “Although the basis of a judgment can be taken away, the legislature cannot annul the specific mandamus that barred further extension…That would amount to sitting in appeal over judicial act”, Justice Gavai said.“Thus, extensions given after verdict was invalid in law,” Bar and Bench further quoted him as having said. LiveLaw has noted thus that the orders dated November 17, 2021 and November 17, 2022 granting extension to Mishra for a period of one year each were held to be illegal.