Former ED chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra in Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council

NEW DELHI: Former Enforcement Directorate chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra, the brain behind the NDA government's crackdown on political opponents, has been appointed a full-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). The appointment is in the void left by former chairman Bibek Debroy, who died in November 2024.

The ED doubled down its money laundering investigations after Mishra became director in 2018. The agency conducted over 2,000 raids and seized assets worth Rs 65,000 crore in the first four years alone. Even the Supreme Court had to intervene and stop the government from allowing an extension for Mishra’s tenure as ED chief. It was after the Supreme Court intervention that the central government brought a bill through an ordinance to ensure a five-year term for the ED and CBI chiefs.

The Supreme Court found Mishra's third extension of his term invalid in July 2023. However, he was allowed to continue till September 2023.