Dr. Jaya Thakur vs. Union of India & Ors.
Background
Sanjay Kumar Mishra was appointed Director of Enforcement in November 2018 for two years; his term was first extended to three years by a presidential order in 2020. In Common Cause v. Union of India (2021), the Supreme Court upheld the power to extend such tenures but directed that no further extension be granted to Mishra. Shortly after, the Government promulgated ordinances (later enacted as amendments to the Central Vigilance Commission Act and the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act) and amended the Fundamental Rules to expressly permit extensions of up to five years in one-year increments for the ED and CBI Directors. Relying on these amendments, the Government extended Mishra's tenure twice more (in November 2021 and November 2022). Several writ petitions were filed challenging both the validity of these legislative/rule amendments and the specific extension orders as defying the Supreme Court's earlier mandamus.
Decision Breakdown
The Court upheld the constitutional validity of the CVC (Amendment) Act, 2021, the DSPE (Amendment) Act, 2021, and the Fundamental (Amendment) Rules, 2021, holding that courts can strike down legislation only for lack of legislative competence or violation of fundamental/constitutional rights, not merely because it is "arbitrary", and that the legislature validly removed the basis of the earlier judgment by clarifying the law on tenure extensions. However, the Court held that a legislature cannot simply nullify a specific mandamus (a direct court directive to specific parties) through legislation, and since the Common Cause (2021) judgment had specifically directed that respondent No. 2 be given no further extension, the November 2021 and November 2022 extension orders granted to him personally were illegal for defying that binding mandamus, even though the amended law itself was valid for future appointees. Balancing this finding against the Government's stated concern about continuity during an ongoing FATF (Financial Action Task Force) international review, the Court invoked its power to do complete justice and permitted Mishra to continue in office only until 31 July 2023 rather than ordering his immediate removal.
Lesson Learnt
A legislature can validly amend the law to change the general legal position going forward, but it cannot use legislation to erase a specific court order (mandamus) that has already been directed at named parties: the two are legally distinct, and only the former is a permissible legislative response to a judgment.