According to agency reports, the court is yet to take cognisance of the charge sheet filed under various sections of the PMLA.
Published Aug 12, 2023 | 7:38 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 12, 2023 | 7:38 PM
Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last year. (Screengrab)
Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji has been sent to judicial remand till 25 August. On Saturday, 12 August, he was produced before a Sessions Court in Chennai by the Enforcement Directorate, after completion of his previous custody period.
The ED, on Saturday, also filed a charge sheet against Balaji as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation against him and his aides, official sources told PTI.
Principal Sessions Judge S Alli, before whom the 47-year-old DMK politician was produced, remanded him in judicial custody till 25 August. The minister, who was arrested by the ED on 14 June, will continue to be lodged at Puzhal Central Jail in Chennai
The central agency also filed a 170-page prosecution complaint, apart from annexures, arraigning Balaji as an accused, the sources said.
Judge Alli had, on 7 August, permitted the ED to take custody of Senthil Balaji for five days for interrogation in connection with the case. Since custody came to an end on Saturday, the ED produced him before in court.
The court is yet to take cognisance of the complaint (charge sheet) filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.
The ED is understood to have brought on record various seized documents, purported cash receipts recovered, and the statement of Balaji that was recorded by it over the last few days, in the charge sheet.
It is expected to file a supplementary charge sheet as a number of other people, including members of Balaji’s family, have not deposed before the agency till now.
It had recently said in a statement that Balaji’s brother, RV Ashok Balaji, Ashok’s wife Nirmala, and mother-in-law P Lakshmi were sent multiple summons to join the probe and record their statements, but they are “yet to appear in person, demonstrating a lack of cooperation with the ongoing investigation”.
A 2.49-acre piece of land located in Karur, valued at more than ₹30 crore, belonging to Nirmala, was frozen by the ED a few days ago in relation to the case.
A Bench, comprising Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh, while dismissing petitions challenging the ED’s custody, held that a habeas corpus plea cannot challenge the remand order. The judges also observed that the habeas corpus petition, filed by Balaji’s wife Megala against the arrest by the ED, was not maintainable.
The court ruled that the word “such custody” mentioned in 67(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure would include police custody, and hence the ED too has the power to arrest a person.
Further, the judges said that in case of any violation of the procedure for arrest prescribed in Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), then action could be taken against the officer concerned in terms of Section 62 of the PMLA.
The ED’s plea was heard along with the two pleas filed by Balaji and his wife. The court dismissed both.
Senthil Balaji continues to be a minister without portfolio in the MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government after he was arrested by the ED on 14 June in a money laundering case linked to an alleged cash-for-jobs scam when he was the transport minister during the previous AIADMK regime.
The agency had earlier claimed that Balaji “misused” his office for illegal gratification and “engineered” a job racket scam in the state transport undertakings during 2014-15, with purported kickbacks paid by candidates through his associates, who include his brother RV Ashok Kumar and his personal assistants B Shanmugam and M Karthikeyan.
After his arrest and subsequent complaints of chest pain, the Madras High Court permitted Balaji to be shifted to a private hospital for heart surgery and restricted his interrogation in the hospital. He was operated for blockages of three coronary arteries at a local private hospital in Chennai.
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, who was the transport minister in the AIADMK government, joined the DMK in 2018.
According to the ED’s FIR, Balaji and others received money from several people in lieu of promises of a government job in the Transport Department. Subsequently, many of those who gave money even got jobs in the department.
However, since the Assembly elections were announced and the political scenario changed after the demise of then-chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Balaji could not provide jobs to the others who had paid him.
These job aspirants complained to the Central Crime Branch in Chennai, based on which an FIR was filed.
The FIR was challenged by Balaji and his associates in court. Meanwhile, Balaji filed an affidavit stating that he had returned the money to the aspirants and that they had reached a compromise.
The case was investigated and a chargesheet was filed in 2019 before a special court for Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).
(With PTI inputs)
