The Supreme Court today adjourned till May 6 the hearing on the bail plea of former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji. The former minister was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year in connection with a money laundering case.
A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan deferred the matter after a lawyer appearing for the agency sought an adjournment stating that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was not available. The counsel told the bench that they have filed their reply in the matter.
Appearing for Senthil Balaji, Senior advocate Aryama Sundaram urged the bench to hear the matter and submitted that he had been inside jail for 320 days. Subsequently, the bench said that it has not gone through ED’s reply in the case and posted the matter for hearing on May 6. The Supreme Court on April 1 sought a response from the ED on Balaji’s bail plea while issuing notice to the agency.
While dismissing the bail petition, the Madras High Court on February 28 said if the minister is let out on bail in a case of this nature, it will send a wrong signal and will be against larger public interest. It mentioned the petitioner had suffered incarceration for more than eight months and it would therefore be more appropriate to direct the special court to dispose of the case within a time frame.
Furthermore, the high court ordered that the trial shall be conducted on a day-to-day basis in accordance with the guidelines given by the top court. V SenthilBalaji was arrested on June 14 last year in connection with a money laundering case linked to a cash-for-jobs scam when he was transport minister during an earlier AIADMK regime.
Last year on August 12, the investigation agency filed a 3,000-page charge sheet against Balaji.
Later on October 19, the high court dismissed Balaji’s earlier bail plea. A local court had also dismissed his bail petitions thrice.