IRS officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra was on Saturday appointed the new chief of the Enforcement Directorate in an additional capacity, a government order said.

Mishra, a 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service officer of the Income Tax cadre, has been appointed as the Principal Special Director in the agency and has been entrusted with the additional charge of ED director for three months.

Mishra will take over from incumbent Karnal Singh whose tenure at the agency ends on Sunday.

Singh, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Union Territories cadre, will complete an over-three-year tenure as the ED director.

Official sources said Mishra, posted as chief commissioner of income-tax in Delhi at present, has not been empanelled as an additional secretary in the central government and, hence, has been given the top ED charge in an additional capacity.

He is expected to be empanelled soon and subsequently will head the ED in a regular capacity, they said.

The ED director post is an additional secretary rank post in the Union government.

The ED enforces two major laws in the country to check black money — the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Foreign Exchange Management Act.