Supreme Court Adjourns Bail Plea Of Former TN Minister Senthil Balaji Till July 10

The Supreme Court today (May 16) has relisted to July 10 the bail plea of former Minister Senthil Balaji after adjournment was sought on behalf of the Solicitor General (SG) Mr Tushar Mehta as he was engaged in the matter of CM Kejriwal before the bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna. 

The MLA and former Minister has challenged a Madras High Court order denying him bail in a money laundering case over the cash-for-jobs allegations.

The bench of Justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that it would be imperative to have the presence of the SG in the present matter for the Court to proceed with the hearing.

"We may hear you, but not in this fashion when the SG is not available," the bench told Balaji's counsel.

Rejecting the suggestion of Senior Advocate Mr Aryama Sundaram to hear the petitioner on smaller issues in the absence of SG, the Court passed the following order : 

 "Time is sought on behalf of Learned Solicitor General as he is busy in Court Room no.2, list on 10 July." 

It may be noted that the Court is closing for summer vacations tomorrow (May 17) and reopens on July 8.

Senior Advocates Mr Sundaram and Mr Mukul Rohatgi represented the MLA, while the SG was on behalf of the State Authorities. 

Yesterday, Justice Oka verbally observed that a priority hearing cannot be given to the former Minister merely on the ground that he has been in jail for over 300 days as there have been instances where the accused persons have been incarcerated for years under the PMLA provision and yet are not able to seek immediate relief.

"We are getting umpteen numbers of matters in PMLA, we have been granting relief, but there are people in jail for 2 years also... We are not impressed with your submission that because he is in custody for 300 days he should be given priority, there are other cases where a person has been (in jail) for more than half or approximately half..."

Balaji was a Minister in Tamil Nadu government's transport department between 2011-2016. In the said capacity, he was accused of having orchestrated, along with his personal assistants and brother, the collection of money by promising job opportunities in various positions of the Department. Statedly, several complaints were filed against the accused by candidates who paid money but could not secure employment.

Based on the above allegations, the Enforcement Directorate registered an ECIR and arrested Balaji in June, 2023. When the former Minister approached the Madras High Court for bail, relief was denied for lack of merits. However, considering that Balaji had been incarcerated for more than 8 months, the High Court directed the Special Court to complete the trial within 3 months.

Aggrieved by the denial of bail, Balaji approached the Supreme Court.

Case Title: V. Senthil Balaji v. The Deputy Director, SLP(Crl) No. 3986/2024