It also affirmed the amendments in the DSPE and CVC Act, giving the Centre the power to extend the tenure of a CBI chief and ED director by a possible 3 years beyond their mandatory two-year term.
Extension can be granted to high-level officials in the public interest and with reasons in writing.
Mishra was initially appointed as ED director for a two-year tenure ending November 2020.
Before his tenure came to an end, he was granted a one-year extension which was challenged in the Supreme Court by an NGO, Common Cause.
By a judgment in September 2021, the court allowed the extension noticing that the tenure was coming to an end in about two months.
However, the judgment was clear that no further extension was to be granted to Mishra.
On November 15, 2021, the Centre brought amendments to the CVC Act and the DSPE Act.
It allowed the government to extend the tenure of CBI, ED chiefs for a period of three years beyond their two-year tenure by granting extensions of one-year each.
These amendments were challenged in a clutch of petitions before the Supreme Court.
Under the challenged amendment, Mishra got an extension from November 2021 to November 2022.
Last November, his tenure was further extended by a notification till November 2023.