Sanjay Kumar Mishra named new interim Enforcement Directorate chief

The Centre has appointed IRS officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra as the new chief of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday. He will hold this office in an additional capacity for at least three months. Mishra will replace incumbent ED chief Karnal Singh whose tenure ends on Sunday.

The PM Narendra Modi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed Mishra as the principal special director in the ED, along with assigning him the additional charge of ED director. His appointment as the ED chief will be "for a period of 3 months, or till the appointment of a regular incumbent, whichever is earlier", according to a statement by the Cabinet panel.

Mishra, a 1984-batch Indian Revenue Services officer, is posted as the chief commissioner of the Income Tax department in Delhi at present. According to reports, he has been made the ED boss in an additional capacity as he has not been empanelled as an additional secretary in the central government.

The post of ED director is an additional secretary rank post in the Union government. Mishra will reportedly be empanelled soon, following which he will become the ED chief in regular capacity.

Mishra, has worked in various capacities in the Income Tax department and has also served in the Foreign Tax division of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) that deals with cases of Indians holding stash abroad. He has also led the department's probe in the National Herald case that involves the first family of the Congress party- the Gandhis - and a few other important assessment cases.

Upon joining, Mishra will take over from present ED chief Karnal Singh whose tenure at the agency ends Sunday. Singh, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Union Territories cadre, will complete an over three year tenure as the ED Director. He had been credited with leading some high-profile investigation cases such as the VVIP helicopters case, cases against former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti, and the Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya money laundering investigations.

During Singh's tenure, the central probe agency saw a phenomenal jump in registration of cases, attachment of assets and filing of charge sheets. The ED, during this time, attached assets worth over Rs 33,563 crore, while these figures for 10 years between 2005-2015 was Rs 9,003 crore.

With PTI inputs