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 said.
It sought instructions from Balaji's counsel on whether the influence on witnesses had come up during the trial of predicate offences, 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.
Following the bifurcation of AIADMK, he has walked out of the party and on December 14, 2018, entered DMK and became its district secretary. He stood for the by-election of 2019 in Aruvakkurichi and then represented his constituency in the ensuing assembly election of 2021, as a minister representing both electricity and excise duties, Stalin ministry.
The ED, on June 14, 2023, raided the house of Senthil Balaji and other places in Chennai, Karur and Coimbatore and interrogated him on a job for a cash scam when he was Transport Minister in the AIADMK-led government.
After 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 his immediate removal from the ministry, Chief Minister Stalin did not yield to the pressure.
But there was huge demand for resignation and Senthil Balaji tendered his resignation on February 12, 2024, eight months after his arrest and before 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.
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