Legal deadlock as Madras High Court delivers split verdict in habeas corpus plea by Minister Senthil Balaji’s wife

Later in the day, the Supreme Court refused the ED’s plea to decide whether Megala’s habeas corpus petition could be entertained and if the central agency’s right to question the minister for two weeks.

Instead, the apex court said it would wait for the high court’s verdict. It requested the Madras High Court Chief Justice to place the habeaus corpus petition before a three-judge bench at the earliest.

Related: ED, I-T tighten the screws on Senthil Balaji and his brother

What is Justice Banu’s verdict

Justice Nisha Banu ruled against the ED’s argument that the habeas corpus petition was not maintainable.

Rejecting the ED’s argument to exclude the treatment days of Balaji in the hospital while calculating the custodial period, the judge held that the ED has no power over the police to claim the custody of a detainee.

Further, accepting the contention of Balaji’s wife that the ED had violated the statutory rights of her husband during the arrest, Judge Banu allowed the petition and directed the ED to free Balaji.

Related: Opposition slams TN Gov Ravi’s ‘dismissal’ of Minister Senthil Balaji

Justice Chakravarthy differs

Differing, Justice Chakravarthy held that Megala’s petition was not maintainable, as the arrest made by the ED was not illegal. The judge observed that the petition could be maintained only if the arrest and the subsequent detention were proved to be illegal.

Justice Chakravarthy also held that the ED was empowered to take a person in custody for interrogation after arresting the individual under the PMLA.

Further, the judge ruled against calculating Balaji’s days in the hospital as in ED custody. He also directed to extend of the minister’s judicial custody to 10 more days and then shift him to the prison hospital for further treatment.

Justice Chakravarthy also said the ED could have Balaji’s custody once his health improved.

Related: ED arrests TN Power Minister Senthil Balaji, takes him to hospital

What happens next?

In case of a split verdict, the matter would be placed before the chief justice of the the high court. The chief justice, under his exclusive prerogative, would decide on a third judge to hear the case.

The chief justice’s decision would be notified to the respective third judge by the court Registry. Further, the third judge would decide on taking up the case and would intimate the Registry to list the case at his convenience.

Once the case is listed for hearing before the new judge, both parties — the petitioner and the respondent — would argue the case from the beginning.

The counsels would put forth the same arguments made before the division bench and based on the merits of the case, the third Judge would deliver his verdict.

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The case so far

A day after Balaji’s arrest, Megala filed a habeas corpus petition before the high court, requesting an order to produce her husband and set him at liberty.

In an interim direction, the court directed to shift Balaji to a private hospital at his own expense. He was initially admitted to the Government Multi-Super Specialty Hospital (GMSSH) at Omandurar Estate in Chennai after he complained of chest pain after the arrest.

Following the court’s directive, Balaji was shifted to the Kauvery Hospital, where he underwent a bypass surgery.

Meanwhile, the Principal Sessions Court allowed ED to take custody of Balaji for eight days.

The ED approached the Supreme Court against the maintainability of the habeas corpus petition and the high court order allowing Balaji to undergo treatment at a private hospital. The central agency argued that the days Balaji would spend in the hospital should not be considered as a custody period.

The apex court refused to interfere in the high court order and said it would hear the plea after the final verdict of the high court.

Megala questioned the ED’s right to take Balaji into custody for interrogation and prayed the court rule the arrest illegal.

The charge against Balaji

The case against Balaji dates back to November 2014, when the Metropolitan Transport Corporation advertised a recruitment drive to fill up various vacancies. Soon, allegations of corruption surfaced.

Balaji was then the transport minister in the AIADMK government. He would join the DMK only in 2018.

The first complainant was one Devasagayam, who claimed in October 2015 that he gave ₹2.6 lakh to Palani, a bus conductor, who promised his son a job in the transport corporation.

Devasagayam claimed the conductor did not fulfil the promise nor returned his money. However, Balaji’s name did not figure in the complaint.

Balaji came into the picture when another man, Gopi, filed a similar complaint in March 2016.

The complainant said he had paid ₹2.40 lakh to two individuals, reportedly related to Balaji, for a conductor job. Gopi later approached the high court, accusing the police of inaction.

The court ordered the Crime Branch Assistant Commissioner to probe the case. The probe report, however, implicated only the 12 individuals mentioned in Devasagayam’s complaint. The report, submitted in 2017, excluded the minister and his relatives.

Meanwhile, more people came up with complaints. Transport Department employee V Ganesh Kumar alleged that the transport minister and three others had directed him to collect ₹95 lakh from job aspirants.

After he became a minister in the DMK-led government, his personal assistant Shanmugam and another man, R Sahayarajan, approached the victims with a compromise formula. However, the compromise move was seen as an admission of bribery, which garnered the ED’s attention.