The government, in a late night order on Tuesday, approved the appointment of Sanjay Kumar Mishra, former chief of the Enforcement Directorate, as the full-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). EAC-PM is an independent body constituted to advise on economic and related issues to the government, specifically to the Prime Minister.
The appointment became necessary following the passing of the board’s former chairman, Bibek Debroy, on November 1, 2024.
The current composition of EAC-PM include, Suman Berry (Chairman), Sanjeev Sanyal (Member), Dr Shamika Ravi (Member), Rakesh Mohan (Part-Time Member), Dr Sajjid Chinoy (Part-Time Member), Dr Neelkanth Mishra (Part-Time Member), Nilesh Shah (Part-Time Member), Prof. TT Ram Mohan (Part-Time Member), and Dr Poonam Gupta (Part-Time Member).
Who is Sanjay Kumar Mishra?
A 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer from Uttar Pradesh, Sanjay Kumar Mishra was appointed at the rank of Secretary. He was appointed as the ED chief in November 2018 for a tenure of 2 years. Before his appointment, Mishra was posted as chief commissioner of Income Tax in Delhi. Later in November 2020, an order modified his appointment letter retrospectively and replaced his term with three years. On November 17, 2021, the government extended his tenure for a year till November 18, 2022. His tenure was again extended for a year till November 18, 2023. In July 2023, the Supreme Court clarified that no further application seeking an extension would be entertained.
Sanjay Kumar Mishra is an economic expert and has personally supervised several high profile cases.
Under Sanjay Kumar Mishra’s leadership, the Enforcement Directorate launched investigations into Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as well as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband, Robert Vadra. It had initiated actions against Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah.
During his tenure, the ED also got approval for the extradition of fugitives such as Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Sanjay Bhandari.
Under Mishra’s leadership, the ED also arrested individuals accused of money laundering, including former Yes Bank MD and CEO Rana Kapoor, as well as Deepak Kochhar, the husband of former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar.