High court refuses to discharge DMK minister in ED case
Senthil Balaji was the transport minister in the AIADMK government, led by the late J Jayalalithaa, during 2011-15. There were complaints against him, in which it was alleged he had received huge amounts as bribe from people for appointing them as drivers and conductors in transport corporations
Chennai
The Madras high court on Monday refused to discharge DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Electricity and Prohibition Minister V Senthil Balaji from a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Justice V Sivagnanam upheld the ED proceedings while dismissing a petition from Senthil Balaji to discharge him from the case, which arose out of a job racketing scam, in 2021.
The judge also rejected a petition filed by another accused in the case to quash the FIR against him. The court, however, ordered a fresh investigation into the allegations against the minister and the co-accused.
Senthil Balaji was the transport minister in the AIADMK government, led by the late J Jayalalithaa, during the period 2011-15. There were complaints against him, in which it was alleged he had received huge amounts as bribe from various persons for appointing them as drivers and conductors in the transport corporations. In connection with these allegations, three FIRs were registered against him which culminated in charge sheets filed against him and those charge sheets were now pending before a special court for trial of criminal cases relating to MPs and MLAs. Since the charge sheets disclosed the commission of a scheduled offence under the PML Act, other than the ones under the IPC, the ED registered the present case against Senthil Balaji and others in July 2021 and took up the investigation