New Delhi, Dec 2, 2024
The Supreme Court on Monday raised eyebrows over the immediate induction of senior DMK leader V. Senthil Balaji in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet headed by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin after he was granted bail in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged cash-for-jobs scam.
A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and A.G. Masih was hearing an application seeking recall of its decision which had enlarged Balaji on bail on the ground that he may influence the case witnesses in his capacity as a minister in the Chief Minister M.K. Stalin-led Cabinet.
“We grant bail and the next day you go and become a minister! Anybody will be bound to be under the impression that witnesses will be under pressure,” the bench remarked.
It asked Balaji’s counsel to seek instructions on the issue of influence on witnesses in the trial of predicate offences, while clarifying that the September 26 judgment granting bail required no interference on merits.
Balaji, who walked out of jail after spending over 450 days behind bars, was sworn in as minister on September 29 and assigned the portfolios of Electricity, Excise and Prohibition in the Tamil Nadu government.
Serving as the Minister of Transport from 2011-2015 in the AIADMK government, he was elected as an MLA again from the Aruvarakurichi constituency in 2016.
After the split in the AIADMK, he left the party and joined the DMK on December 14, 2018 and became the DMK district secretary. He contested by-polls from Aruvakurichi in 2019 and later in the 2021 Assembly elections and became a minister for Electricity and Excise in the Stalin-led cabinet.
On June 14, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided Senthil Balaji’s house and other places in Chennai, Karur and Coimbatore and interrogated him about a job for a cash scam while he served as the Transport Minister in the AIADMK-led government.
After several hours of interrogation, Balaji was arrested and sent to judicial custody.
Balaji complained of chest pain and a medical investigation found that he had three blocks in his coronary artery. Subsequently, he was subjected to an angioplasty at a private hospital. He continued in the private hospital for a few more days and was later shifted back to the Puzhal Central Prison.
Even as the opposition demanded the immediate removal of Balaji from the ministry, Chief Minister Stalin did not succumb to the pressure.
However, there was immense demand for his resignation and Senthil Balaji tendered his resignation on February 12, 2024, eight months after his arrest and ahead of his bail plea hearing in the Madras High Court.
After the Supreme Court granted him bail, Balaji walked out of Puzhal Central Prison and was inducted again in the Stalin-led cabinet.(Agency)
