Senthil Balaji's Bail Plea In PMLA Case | Either Have Trial Of All Predicate Offences Or Exclude Any : Supreme Court To ED While Reserving Judgment

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 20) observed that the ED must either rely on a complete trial of all three predicate offences against Senthil Balaji in the money laundering case against him or decide to let go of some cases as predicate offence. The Court observed that splitting the trial would not serve any purpose.

“Either there is complete trial of all offences which are treated as predicate offences or you say that a particular case will not be treated as predicate offence. Otherwise, this splitting etc. is not going to serve a purpose, it will take years for this trial”, Justice Oka said.

A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih had earlier raised the question of whether the ED intended to rely on all three predicate offences or exclude any of them in its prosecution under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

The predicate offences registered against Balaji include charges under Section 420 (cheating) and other sections of the IPC and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, including sections 7 (public servant taking bribe), 12 (abetment), and 13 (misconduct of public servant).

During the proceedings today, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, informed the court that the main chargesheet in the predicate offence case involves 47 accused and 112 witnesses and that supplementary chargesheets have also been filed.

Justice Oka emphasized the need for clarity on whether the ED would exclude certain offences. Justice Oka noted that splitting the predicate offences would not be beneficial.

Mehta further suggested the appointment of a Special Public Prosecutor for the case, to which Justice Oka pointed out that the Court had already issued notice on the complainant's plea for appointment of SPP.

The Court took on record a one-page note submitted by the Solicitor General and reserved its judgment on Balaji's bail plea.

After the Court dictated the order, Solicitor General Mehta said that on Friday he will be able to say that the ED will confine only to one case. He said ED is seeking splitting of chargesheets which is legally permissible.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said that the ED has no right to split as the prosecution complaint contains all three predicate offences.

The Court had earlier asked whether the trial under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) could proceed without the trial of the predicate offence. In response, advocate Zoheb Hossain for the ED submitted that of the three predicate offences against Balaji, only one has more than over two thousand accused. Thus, he argued that even if the trial in that specific case does not commence, the PMLA trial could still proceed based on the other two predicate offences.

Thereafter, the bench questioned whether the ED was relying on all three predicate offences or only some.

Background

Senthil Balaji, who served as the Tamil Nadu Transport Minister between 2011 and 2016, is accused of orchestrating a cash-for-jobs scam. It is alleged that he, along with his personal assistants and brother, collected money from individuals by promising them jobs in various positions within the department. Multiple complaints were lodged by candidates who claimed they paid money but did not receive the promised employment.

In June 2023, Balaji was arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case related to these allegations. He subsequently challenged a Madras High Court order denying him bail. The High Court had rejected his bail plea, citing the severity of the charges and the potential for witness tampering. Thus, he filed the present appeal before the Supreme Court

Case no. – SLP (Crl.) No. 3986/2024

Case Title – V. Senthil Balaji v. Deputy Director