Earlier in the day, the Sessions Court dismissed Balaji's application against his remand by the ED as he had already been arrested by then.
Published Jun 15, 2023 | 10:31 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 15, 2023 | 10:54 PM
Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji being taken to Kauvery hospital in an ambulance.
It was a day of multiple court petitions and orders. And at the end of the day, the Madras High Court on Thursday, 15 June, directed the Prison Department to shift arrested Tamil Nadu Power Minister V Senthil Balaji to Chennai’s Kauvery Hospital for further treatment.
Balaji was advised bypass surgery following complaints of chest pain after officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in the wee hours of Wednesday and admitted him to a government hospital.
Passing orders on a Habeas Corpus petition filed by Balaji’s wife Megala, a Division Bench of the Madras High Court — comprising Justices J Nisha Banu and D Bharatha Chakravarthy — directed the minister be shifted to the private hospital at his own cost, overruling objections by the ED.
Subsequent to the ruling, Balaji was shifted to Kauvery hospital around 9 pm.
Balaji was arrested amidst high drama in the early hours of Wednesday after a 17-hour-long raid on several of his premises as well as his office in the state Secretariat in connection with a “cash for jobs” scam when he was transport minister in the previous AIADMK government.
Taking note of the medical records attested by the doctors of the Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital (GMSSH) at Omandurar Estate in Chennai where Balaji was initially admitted, as well as the ESI doctors brought in by the ED, the judges said that the period of Balaji’s stay in the hospital would be excluded while considering the ED’s plea for custodial interrogation.
The judges also allowed ED officials to form a panel of doctors to monitor Balaji’s health and treatment during his stay at Kauvery Hospital. It also allowed the ED officials to visit the hospital where Balaji was admitted.
The judges, however, turned down a request by the ED that Balaji be shifted to the private hospital only after an assessment by doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
Further, the judges said that the main prayer of the illegal detention of the petitioner’s husband (Balaji) will be heard on 22 June.
Earlier in the day on Thursday, the city’s Principal Sessions Court reserved orders on a bail application by Balaji, who was arrested on charges of money laundering while he was serving as a minister in the AIADMK regime from 2011-2016.
The application filed by the ED seeking Balaji’s custody was also heard by the Principal Sessions Court. Recording the arguments advanced by either side, Judge Valli reserved the verdict for Friday.
The Court had already dismissed Balaji’s application against his remand by the ED.
Since the petition became infructuous as Balaji was arrested by the ED and had already been sent to judicial custody, the court dismissed his petition.
On Thursday evening, after the Madras High Court allowed Balaji to be shifted to the private hospital, advocates of the minister approached the court Registry to get a wire order of the judgement delivered by the Division Bench.
Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji being taken to Kauvery hospital.
According to sources, all efforts were made to ensure that Balaji was shifted to Kauvery hospital on Thursday itself, soon after the order copy of the high court was presented to the prison authorities.
Meanwhile, a team of doctors from Kauvery hospital visited the GMSSH and held a meeting with the government doctors who were treating Balaji.
Heavy police protection was deployed at Kauvery hospital even as the minister was being shifted there, and a separate ward was allotted to him. On Thursday evening, prison authorities also inspected Kauvery hospital.
Sources close to Senthil Balalji told South First that the bypass surgery would be performed on the minister on Saturday.
On Wednesday, the Prison Department had taken charge of Senthil Balaji, after ED officials handed him over to them following his judicial custody. On Thursday, the prison officials registered Balaji’s signature in the prison records and allotted him a remand prisoner’s identification number.
Prison officials told South First that Balaji would be treated under the provisions of the prison manual and not everyone could visit him when they wanted.
“If someone wants to meet Balaji, who is admitted to the hospital, they should obtain proper permission from the prison authorities by filing a visiting petition to meet him.”
On Thursday, the prison officials denied permission to HR&CE Minister PK Shekar Babu, who came to the hospital to visit Balaji. The officials asked him to obtain proper permission from the Prison Department.
Only Balaji’s family members were allowed to visit the ailing minister.
Former ministers of the AIADMK, including D Jayakumar, C Vijayabhaskar, and CVe Shanmugam, petitioned Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Thursday to dismiss Senthil Balaji from his ministerial post as he had been arrested by the ED on charges of money laundering.
Shanmugam, after meeting the Governor, told reporters that even 24 hours after his arrest, Senthil Balaji remained a a minister in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s Cabinet.
“This is against the Constitution. If he continues to be a minister, then people will lose belief in the Constitution. He should have been removed from his post as soon as he was arrested,” Shanmugam said.
Former minister Jayakumar demanded the resignation of Stalin from the chief minister’s post for allowing Balaji to continue as a minister in his Cabinet.
Meanwhile, Joint Secretary of the AIADMK Legal Cell, RM Babu Murugavel, petitioned the ED and Income Tax Department to initiate an inquiry into the alleged corruption charges against DMK Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and his brother-in-law Sabareesan, based on the purported audio clip of Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan that surfaced on social media a couple of months ago.
Murugavel, in his petition, said PTR had “confirmed” that Udhayanidhi Stalin and his brother-in-law Sabareesan have earned nearly ₹30,000 crore by way of misappropriation of public money after coming to power.
On Thursday, Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (TNSHRC) member V Kannadasan met with Balaji at the government hospital where he was admitted for a heart condition.
Based on news reports and complaints from a few individuals on the violation of human rights during Balaji’s arrest, Kannadasan said that he had come to meet the minister to understand what really happened during his arrest by the ED officials.
After the meeting, Kannadasan told reporters that Balaji informed him that he was “treated badly” by ED officials during his arrest. “He said that he was dragged and suffered an injury to his head,” Kannadasan added.
The TNSHRC member said only the doctors could confirm the injuries said to have been sustained by Balaji.
