The court extended the remand of Balaji, who was arrested in connection with a money laundering case by the ED in June, till 20 October.
Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. (Screengrab)
A sessions court in Chennai on Friday, 13 October, extended the remand of DMK Minister V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested in connection with a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in June, till 20 October.
First Additional Sessions Judge D Lingeshwaran, before whom Balaji was produced through video conferencing from Puzhal prison, extended his remand to judicial custody till next Friday.
Balaji, who was lodged in the Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai, was admitted to the Stanley Medical College and Hospital on the morning of 9 October, following a brief illness and was discharged by the afternoon.
Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a job-racket case, has been in prison after he was remanded in judicial custody.
According to sources, Balaji was suffering from low blood pressure and was being treated for numbness in his leg in the prison hospital on 8 October night.
He complained to the prison authorities on 9 October morning that he was experiencing difficulty breathing.
Following this, the medical officers of the prison hospital found variations in heartbeat and referred him to the Stanley Medical College and Hospital.
Balaji, who was arrested by the ED on 14 June, underwent bypass surgery at the Kaveri Hospital in Chennai following the orders of the Madras High Court.
A month after his surgery, he was shifted to the Puzhal Central Prison where his health condition was monitored by the prison hospital authorities.
Balaji was served with a 3,000-page chargesheet by the ED. He was denied bail multiple times by the Principal Sessions Court and his judicial remand was extended seven times since his arrest.
“Senthil Balaji continuously and meticulously monitored and executed a job racket scam,” the ED stated in the charge sheet filed on 12 August against the minister in the cash-for-jobs scam.
Following the prosecution complaint, filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on 12 August before a special court in Chennai, the ED also served Balaji with a copy of the charge sheet on 28 August.
The ED, in the charge sheet, stated that the entire recruitment process in the Tamil Nadu Transport Department during the tenure of Senthil Balaji as its minister was turned into a “corrupt chiefdom” and the cash-for-jobs scam was executed under his authority.
Balaji played a “pivotal and central” role, “exploiting” his official capacity as the transport minister for personal gains through corrupt and illegal means, the charge sheet claimed.
“The whole recruitment in the Transport Department during the tenure of the then-minister V Senthil Balaji has turned into a corrupt chiefdom, in which, as per the illegal directions of the chief (Senthil Balaji), the recruitment process was designed and implemented,” the ED alleged in the charge sheet.
Balaji is now a minister without portfolio in the MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu Cabinet.
(With PTI inputs)
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