Justice Abhay Oka while pronouncing the judgement observed, 'Stringent and higher threshold of bail and delay in prosecution cannot go together.'
Published Sep 26, 2024 | 12:57 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 26, 2024 | 3:42 PM
The Enforcement Directorate arrested V Senthil Balaji on 14 June.
The Supreme Court on Thursday, 26 September granted bail to former Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji in the money laundering case in the cash for jobs scam.
A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih reserved the judgement on 12 August, after hearing the arguments from both sides.
Justice Abhay Oka while pronouncing the judgement noted that there has been a delay in the trial. “Stringent and higher threshold of bail and delay in prosecution cannot go together,” he further observed. “We have granted bail with some onerous conditions put in,” the court added.
According to the Bar and Bench, the Supreme Court questioned the ED on whether the trial against Balaji is likely to begin soon.
Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Sidharth Luthra appeared for Balaji. Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta and special counsel Zoheb Hossain represented ED.
The detailed copy of the judgement is yet to be released.
Senthil Balaji was arrested by the ED on 14 June in an alleged cash-for-jobs scam that took place when he was the transport minister (2011-2015) in the AIADMK-led government of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
The ED arrested Balaji in connection with a money laundering case rooted in the alleged scam. Balaji crossed over to the ruling DMK in 2018.
The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered on the basis of three FIRs lodged against him by the local police in 2018 for his alleged involvement in the cash-for-jobs scam in 2015.
Meanwhile, the ED had on 12 August 2024 filed a charge sheet, running to 3,000 pages against Balaji.
The ED, in its 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.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula)
