New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to former Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji, who has been in jail since June 2023 in connection with the alleged cash-for-jobs scam.
The top court, in November last year, refused to hear a bail plea citing his health, noting it was not satisfied with his arguments and that his condition could be cured with medicines.
Mr Balaji faces money-laundering charges dating back to 2011-2016 – when he was the Transport Minister in then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK government. He joined fierce rivals DMK, the current ruling party, in December 2018, in the presence of party boss MK Stalin.
Mr Balaji – whose bail pleas were twice dismissed by the Madras High Court, including in February, and thrice by the trial court – has denied all charges. Speaking after the top court granted relief, his lawyer, NR Elango, said, “The long delay… could be there in conducting trials in predicate offence as well as PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) case.”
“Bail has been granted on certain conditions – he should appear before (arresting officials) twice a week, should not tamper with evidence or witnesses, and should surrender his passport…”
Mr Balaji’s release was celebrated by his supporters and DMK party workers, who burst firecrackers and waved party flags, and shouted slogans in his name.
It is unclear if he will now be reinstated to the Tamil Nadu cabinet. Mr Balaji had been retained as a gesture of support but that led to a fierce dispute with Governor RN Ravi. He resigned in February after the High Court said political compulsions could not outweigh public morality.
He was arrested after hours of questioning and amid high drama; he complained of chest pain hours after the Enforcement Directorate took him into custody and underwent an angiogram at a Chennai hospital, after which doctors advised coronary artery bypass surgery “at the earliest”.
Mr Balaji broken down and cried on the way to the hospital. Visuals of him weeping in the ambulance, and later at the hospital, were widely circulated, and several of his DMK colleagues spoke out in support, slamming the federal agency for targeting opposition leaders. Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, Chief Minister MK Stalin’s son and widely expected to be named his deputy, declared “we will not be cowed by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s intimidation”.
Action against Mr Balaji came shortly after the Karnataka Assembly election that saw the BJP lose control of the only southern state in its control. The Congress, an ally of the DMK, won the election. The DMK said the BJP targeted its leader to offset the panic caused by the loss.
The ED had raided Mr Balaji’s residence, his office at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat, and the premises of his brother and a close aide in Karur district. This was after the Income Tax Department searched multiple properties – across the state – owned by his associates.
