The central government’s decision to extend the tenure of the heads of the CBI and ED through the ordinance route goes against a recent Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court has in the past specifically said that the power to issue ordinances should be used only in extraordinary situations. And such extensions should be done only in rare and exceptional cases and only for a short period.
The government’s decision is in violation of the spirit of the Vineet Narain case judgement in which the SC prescribed a minimum tenure of two years for the directors of the CBI and ED. The government’s decision seems specifically intended to serve political ends only. This will undermine the idea of autonomy for these organisations. The central agencies have been regularly used for targeting the government’s political opponents and critics. This ordinance is unconstitutional. The power to promulgate ordinances is truly a relic of the British Raj and has existed since 1861. Our constitution is based on the principle of separation of powers and the legislature's primary task is to make laws for good governance.
