The Supreme Court on Tuesday criticised the Tamil Nadu government for naming 2,500 persons as accused in the cash-for-jobs case involving former state minister V Senthil Balaji, observing that such “modus operandi” is aimed at protecting him by ensuring the trial isn’t completed in his lifetime.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Y Balaji, a victim , who challenged a March 28 order passed by the Madras high court allowing clubbing of four separate charge sheets in cases investigated by the state against Balaji, into one single case.
As a consequence of this clubbing, the top court noticed that in one set of cases there are 2,000 accused and in another, 500. These accused are the alleged bribe givers who later complained that despite payment of bribe, they did not get jobs as promised to them.
A bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said, “The state must clarify what is the consequence of such clubbing…While implicating these bribe-givers, 2,500 persons have been named as accused. In his (Senthil Balaji) entire lifetime, this trial will not conclude.”
Noting that such an approach is a fraud on the system, the bench pulled up the state and said, “The modus operandi seems to be to ensure the trial does not complete during the lifetime of the minister. It is a complete fraud being played on the system.”
{{/usCountry}}Noting that such an approach is a fraud on the system, the bench pulled up the state and said, “The modus operandi seems to be to ensure the trial does not complete during the lifetime of the minister. It is a complete fraud being played on the system.”
{{/usCountry}}Digging deeper into the list of accused named in the four charge sheets, the bench told the state, “In addition to the minister concerned, we want to know who are the alleged middlemen to whom money was paid, who are the officers who acted on the minister’s behest, and who were on the board of appointments or the officials who carried out these appointments.”
The state, represented by senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Amit Anand Tiwari informed the court that these details are contained in a related petition which is not listed before the court. The bench was further informed that another set of cases related to the monitoring of trial is to come up on Wednesday.
The bench directed all matters to be listed together on Wednesday.
The petition taken up on Tuesday was argued by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan who pointed out that since the accused in the case is a former cabinet minister, collusion between the state agencies and the accused was deprecated by earlier judgments of the top court in 2022 when it set aside settlement agreements reached between the accused and the complainants (bribe givers) while ordering the trial against Balaji to continue.
Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 14, 2023 and was relieved from charge as a minister for electricity and prohibition and excise. He continued as a minister without portfolio in the state government from June 16, 2023 till February 12, 2024, when he resigned ahead of the hearing on his bail petition in the Madras high court.
In September last year, he was released on bail by the top court, following which he was again made a minister. The top court questioned his conduct and asked him to either opt for a position or his liberty, while hearing a plea by the victims to recall his bail order. In the face of the court’s stiff stand, left with no option, Balaji again stepped down in April.
He is facing probe in separate offences lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the state police department over the job fraud during his tenure as transport minister in the state from 2014-15. He was accused of receiving bribes for providing jobs in the state transport department during his tenure as minister in the AIADMK government. He joined the DMK in late 2018.