New Delhi: The Supreme Court today, September 26, granted bail to former Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji who had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate over a year ago.
The ED, which is accused of acting primarily against the political rivals of the Bharatiya Janata Party – in power at the Union government – invoked charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with an alleged cash-for-jobs scam which it claims took place between 2011 and 2016. Senthil Balaji is a leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, which is in opposition to the BJP.
Last year, in an unprecedented move, Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi had “dismissed” Balaji from the Council of Ministers after he was arrested, sparking controversy.
A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih had highlighted the delay in trial in August, LiveLaw has reported.
Justice Oka said that a “higher bail threshold and a delay in prosecution cannot go together.”
“We have granted bail with some onerous conditions put in,” the court said.
Bar and Bench reported that Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Sidharth Luthra appeared for Balaji while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and special counsel Zoheb Hossain represented ED.
Multiple bail applications by Balaji were rejected by a sessions court in Chennai. Last year, the Supreme Court had upheld his medica bail plea after the Madras high court rejected it.
The case accuses Balaji of having colluded to collect money from job seekers to guarantee them work at the Tamil Nadu Transport Department while he was state transport minister between 2011 and 2016.
At the apex court, according to LiveLaw, Balaji said that deposits of Rs. 1.34 crore in his bank account between 2013 and 2021 were derived from his agricultural income and salary as an MLA. His counsels also claimed that material presented as incriminating evidence by the ED was flawed and “no incriminating files named ‘CSAC’ allegedly detailing Rs. 67 crores in proceeds from the scam, was found in the seized pen drive and hard disk.”
The ED claimed that the Tamil Nadu government is helping Balaji and that he is influencing witnesses.
