Karnal Singh appointed ED Director

Senior IPS officer Karnal Singh was on Wednesday appointed chief of Enforcement Directorate, the agency entrusted with probing money laundering cases.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the appointment of Singh as Director, Enforcement Directorate (ED) till August 31, 2017, i.e. the date of his superannuation, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.

Singh, a 1984 batch IPS officer of Union territories cadre, is holding the additional charge of ED chief since August last year. He is at present Special Director in the ED.

He got third extension in August this year to hold the additional charge of the post of ED chief for six months.

The post had fallen vacant after the government had in August last year curtailed the tenure of Rajan S Katoch, the previous Director of ED.

Singh was on August 19, 2015 given the additional charge of the post for three months and his tenure was extended in November by another three months, and later in February by six months.

The agency has a mandate to enforce two of the most stringent laws in the country - Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) - to check black money and hawala trade cases.