The appointment of Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra as a full-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has sparked controversy, with Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty publicly criticising the move. Taking to social media platform X, Chakravarty alleged that Mishra’s credentials do not align with those of past EAC-PM members, who have traditionally been drawn from institutions like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the World Bank, and academia.
Chakravarty wrote, “PM’s Economic Advisory Council was constituted by Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2004. Qualifications of past members: RBI, World Bank, Chief Economists, Professors, Scholars. Qualification of newest member: 2000 raids on Opposition Leaders! What a disgrace to the body & its other members.”
PM’s Economic Advisory Council was constituted by Dr.Manmohan Singh in 2004
Qualifications of past members:
RBI, World Bank, Chief Economists, Professors, ScholarsQualification of newest member:
2000 raids on Opposition Leaders!What a disgrace to the body & its other members pic.twitter.com/QEHBQwDBA2
— Praveen Chakravarty (@pravchak) March 27, 2025
In a late-night order on Tuesday, former Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra was appointed as a full-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). The independent advisory body, which had one vacancy since the passing of its former chairman Bibek Debroy in November 2024, will now include Mishra in its ranks.
Mishra’s tenure as ED chief was marked by high-profile investigations, many of which targeted opposition leaders. His appointment to the EAC-PM is seen by critics as a politically motivated decision rather than one based on economic expertise.
By 2022, 65% of all asset attachments carried out by the ED since it began probing such cases 17 years earlier bore his signature, with the agency conducting over 2,000 raids. In his first four years alone, the ED seized assets worth Rs 65,000 crore.
This aggressive approach earned the agency the moniker of “the new CBI” among Opposition parties, many of whose leaders found themselves targeted. The repeated extensions to Mishra’s tenure reinforced perceptions that he was integral to the government’s strategy.
