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.
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 have been dismissed by the Madras High Court and the trial court (thrice) – has denied all charges against him. 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…”
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”.
