New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday as many as eight petitions, including the ones filed by politicians Randeep Singh Surjewala and Mahua Moitra, challenging the extension of tenure of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) director and the amended law allowing such extensions up to five years.
According to the list of business uploaded on the apex court website, a bench headed by Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit will hear the petitions, based on which notices were issued to the Centre and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
The top court had issued notices on the PILs filed by Surjewala and Jaya Thakur, both Congress leaders, TMC MP Moitra, Saket Gokhale, Krishan Chander Singh, Vineet Narian and Manohar Lal Sharma on August 2.
Earlier, senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Surjewala, had referred to the apex court judgements and said the fixed tenures are the hallmark of independence and the fact that an incumbent may get an extension will demolish the independence of the office.
Surjewala's plea has challenged the amendment made by the central government to the fundamental concept decided by the apex court in two judgments in the Vineet Narayan and the Common Cause cases which were on fixed tenure.
"...this amendment basically puts the incumbent on a fiduciary kind of pattern where one year, two year and three year extension at the discretion of the executive can be achieved. The amendments provide that you can get extensions piecemeal, Singhvi had said.