Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) early on Wednesday, was remanded to judicial custody till June 28. A bail petition moved by the Minister was posted for judgment on Thursday
On June 13, the ED conducted searches at Mr. Senthilbalaji’s official chamber in the State Secretariat, and bungalow in Chennai and other places linked to him in Karur and Coimbatore in connection with an money-laundering case. This is the first time the Central agency has entered Fort St. George, the seat of power, conducting searches in the chambers of a Minister.
After his arrest following 18 hours of investigation, dramatic scenes unfolded throughout Wednesday.
Mr. Senthilbalaji was taken in a car at 2 a.m. and admitted to the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital at Omandurar Estate in Chennai. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin met Mr. Senthilbalaji at the hospital on Wednesday morning around 10.30 a.m.
A medical bulletin from the hospital stated that Mr. Senthilbalaji, 47, underwent a coronary angiogram at 10.40 a.m. The angiogram revealed triple vessel disease, for which CABG-Bypass surgery was advised at the earliest. The sleuths of the ED had harassed Mr. Senthilbalaji to the extent that he developed chest pain, Mr. Stalin charged in a statement. “The DMK will legally face the case; we are not afraid of the intimidation tactics of the BJP. People are watching these acts of oppression, and they will teach them a befitting lesson in 2024,” he said.
A slew of State Ministers including Udhayanidhi Stalin, Ma. Subramanian, E.V. Velu, K. Ponmudy, S. Regupathy, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and Thangam Thennarasu among others visited the Omandurar hospital campus to express their solidarity. Parties belonging to the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) announced that they would stage a joint agitation in Coimbatore on Friday, June 16.
Principal district and Sessions Judge S. Alli visited Mr. Senthilbalaji at the hospital and ordered for his remand to judicial custody. Earlier, the Madras High Court agreed to urgently hear a habeas corpus petition filed by the Minister’s wife accusing the ED of not following due procedures before the arrest.
However, Justice M. Sundar, the senior judge in the Division Bench said Justice R. Sakthivel wanted to recuse himself from hearing the case and therefore it might not be possible for the Bench to hear the case even if it gets numbered on Wednesday.
The case would now be listed for hearing before a Division Bench of Justices J. Nisha Banu and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy. Only a few weeks ago, Income Tax officials had conducted week-long searches at the premises of Mr. Senthilbalaji’s brother, V. Ashok Kumar, and acquaintances.
On May 16, the Supreme Court had paved the way for the Crime Branch to continue an investigation into Mr. Senthilbalaji, in a case where he is accused of taking bribes in exchange for jobs in the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC).
