Supreme Court upholds V Senthil Balaji's arrest in PMLA case; allows his ED custody for 5 days

Satya Prakash

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New Delhi, August 7

Upholding the validity of Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji’s arrest in a money-laundering case, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to have his custody for five days.

A Bench of Justice AS Bopanna and Justice MM Sundresh – which had reserved its verdict on August 2 after hearing arguments from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, and senior counsel Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi for Balaji – dismissed the petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu Minister and his wife S Megala.

They had challenged the Madras High Court that had refused to order his release. The top court also heard the ED’s petition questioning the high court’s decision to entertain a habeas corpus petition filed by the minister’s wife.

The case relates to the alleged irregularities in the appointment of bus conductors, drivers and junior engineers in the transport department of the state during Balaji’s tenure as the Transport Minister in the AIADMK government from 2011-15. He joined the DMK in 2018.

Despite his arrest on June 14 in a money-laundering case arising out of the cash-for-jobs scam, Balaji continues to be a minister without portfolio in the Tamil Nadu cabinet.

During arguments, Mehta had contended that the ED has powers to arrest and conduct custodial interrogation of the accused in order to collect evidence, while Rohatgi said the agency had no vested right to interrogate an accused in custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.