DMK leader and former Tamil Nadu minister V. Senthilbalaji. File.
| Photo Credit: Akhila Easwaran
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (February 12, 2025) asked Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V. Senthilbalaji to give a straight-forward answer in “yes or no” whether he intends to continue as a government Minister while facing trial as an accused in moneylaundering proceedings linked to a cash-for-jobs ‘scam’.
“We are asking you, with all this you are facing, do you want to continue as a Minister? Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’… We know this will be a very difficult question for you to answer,” Justice A.S. Oka, heading a Bench, addressed senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and advocate Ram Sankar, appearing for Mr. Senthilbalaji.
Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, appearing for the State, said the Minister had been given a ‘Hobson’s choice’.
“I was in jail for one year. Cases were piled upon me when I was in jail. After imposing stringent conditions on me [for bail], I have been appearing every alternate day before the court… I am hardly working as a Minister,” Mr. Rohatgi submitted.
The court was hearing allegations raised by both the Enforcement Directorate (ED), represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and K. Vidhya Kumar, through senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocates Neha Rathi and Pranav Sachdeva, that Mr. Senthilbalaji was trying to “derail” the trial in the case. Mr. Senthilbalaji was appointed Minister soon after his release on bail by the Supreme Court on September 26 last year.
Serious charges
On December 2, the apex court had voiced strong objection to Mr. Senthilbalaji’s return as Minister. “What is this? There are serious charges against him, and he straightaway becomes a Minister! This must stop. People would be justified now for their apprehension that witnesses would come under pressure,” Justice Oka had remarked.
The court had subsequently ordered the State to place on record the number and details of witnesses in the cases involving the Minister, and how many of them were victims and public servants.
On Wednesday, Mr. Rohatgi told the Bench that he would convey to Mr. Senthilbalaji the court’s question regarding his continuance as Minister.
Mr. Mehta interjected to point out that Mr. Senthilbalaji’s lawyers had similarly sought time on the same pretext during the previous court hearing.
The Solicitor General said a forensic expert, who had been regularly deposing at the trial, had made himself scarce after Mr. Senthilbalaji’s return as Minister.
Justice Oka said the Minister was granted bail not on merits but on the sole ground that he had suffered a long incarceration of one year as an undertrial in the case. Mr. Mehta said Mr. Senthilbalaji had wielded power even in jail in the role of a Minister without a portfolio.
In a recent affidavit, the ED had contended that the ongoing examination of prosecution witnesses has been delayed due to Mr. Senthilbalaji’s applications for either copies of the digital records or for change of counsel. The Central agency had pointed out that some of the key witnesses cited in the prosecution complaint had previously worked under Mr. Senthilbalaji when he was Transport Minister.
Mr. Senthilbalaji is accused of playing a “central and pivotal role” in receiving kickbacks for jobs in the Metropolitan Transport Corporation of Chennai and Tamil Nadu State Corporation during his tenure as Transport Minister.
Published – February 12, 2025 08:39 pm IST