New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate took Tamil Nadu electricity minister V. Senthil Balaji into custody in the early hours of Wednesday (June 14), after beginning searches at his home and chambers on Tuesday. According to The Indian Express, Balaji’s arrest came after an 18-hour interrogation and searches at dozens of locations across Chennai and Karur associated with the minister and his family.
Soon after his arrest, Balaji reportedly complained of chest pains and was taken to a hospital. According to NDTV, dramatic scenes were witnessed outside the Omandurar government hospital in Chennai, where Balaji was brought in an ambulance. He had reportedly broken down, and supporters had gathered to express solidarity.
Later in the day, NDTV reported that Balaji went through a coronary angiogram at the hospital, and doctors have recommended a bypass surgery “at the earliest”.
The case pertains to an alleged job-for-cash scam in the state’s transport department between 2011 and 2016, when Balaji was the transport minister in the AIADMK government. He is now a member of the DMK, and the Chennai police filed a chargesheet naming him and 46 others in 2021 on the eve of the state assembly elections.
In May this year, the Supreme Court had allowed the ED to probe this case, overruling a 2022 order by the Madras high court. Soon after, the Income Tax Department had conducted an eight-day raid on Balaji’s home and the homes and offices of some of his supporters.
DMK leaders have come out strongly to support their colleague, criticising the ED and the Union government for targeting opposition leaders. DMK’s organising secretary R.S. Bharathi reportedly said the timing of this action was suspicious, as it comes after Union home minister Amit Shah’s planned trip to Chennai. “This is happening after Amit Shah’s visit. They have an ulterior motive,” he said, adding that the BJP also wanted to create diversions because the AIADMK was thinking of ending its alliance with the BJP.
DMK MP and lawyer N.R. Elango said that Balaji has been shifted to the ICU and the ED has not officially confirmed his arrest. “There is no clarity if the ED has arrested him. No arrest guidelines have been followed,” he said.
“I saw him (Mr Balaji) when he was shifted to ICU. Doctors are evaluating his health condition. It is a procedure when a person says he has been assaulted the doctor needs to note down all the injuries and will know after seeing the report. Officially we have not been informed (by ED) that he has been arrested,” Elango added.
Tamil Nadu law minister S. Regupathy also said that arrest procedures were not followed. He was one of the DMK leaders who went to the hospital, but was allegedly not allowed to meet Balaji.
On Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had condemned the ED action, saying, “These are brazen attempts of the Modi Government at harassment and intimidation. Such gross misuse of investigative agencies against political opponents has been the hallmark of the Modi Government.”
Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin too alleged that this was one more attempt by the BJP to silence the opposition and attack federalism.
According to The News Minute, this is the first time that a central investigation agency like the ED has entered Fort St George – the Tamil Nadu secretariat – to conduct a search on a minister.
Opposition parties have been alleging for some time that the Narendra Modi government is “misusing” central agencies, like the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation, as a tool to suppress any oppositional voices.