Former TN minister V Senthil Balaji’s remand extended till 17 April

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Arrest in cash-for-jobs scam

Balaji was arrested on 14 June, 2023 by the ED in connection with the money laundering case linked to a cash-for-jobs scam when he was the transport minister in the AIADMK government.

He resigned from the MK Stalin-led Cabinet eight months after his arrest.

His multiple bail pleas have been rejected by the courts so far. The ED had on 12 August last year filed a 3,000-page charge sheet against Balaji.

The Supreme Court on 1 April issued notice on a petition filed by Balaji against a 28 February Madras High Court order denying his second bail petition in the case. The matter was heard by a Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan.

The high court, while dismissing the bail petition, said that if he is let out on bail in a case of this nature, it would send a wrong signal and it would be against the larger public interest.

It said the petitioner has suffered incarceration for more than eight months and therefore, it will be more appropriate to direct the special court to dispose of the case within a time frame.

“Accordingly, there shall be a direction to the Principal Special Court, Chennai, to dispose of the case within three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order,” it had ordered.

The high court ordered that the trial shall be conducted on a day-to-day basis following the guidelines given by the top court.

Despite Balaji being in prison, the party structure that he built in Coimbatore remains intact. Interestingly, state BJP chief K Annamalai had on 8 April, accused Balaji of guiding DMK workers over the phone from prison.

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