Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji the next on ED list

The Supreme Court on Monday permitted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take custody of Senthil Balaji, the arrested Tamil Nadu minister, and supported the legality of the arrest of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party leader.

Senthil Balaji, the next ED target:

While dismissing the appeals filed by Minister Balaji and his wife, Megala, challenging the Madras High Court’s ruling that upheld his arrest in a money laundering case, the Supreme Court’s bench of Justices A S Bopanna and M M Sundresh has referred the matter of whether police custody can be extended beyond the initial 15-day remand period to a larger bench.

Despite his detention on June 14, Balaji, who continues to serve as a minister without a portfolio in the Tamil Nadu government, and his wife challenged the Madras High Court’s order upholding the investigative agency’s arrest. 

The arrest concerns a money laundering case involving the state’s transport department’s suspected cash-for-jobs scandal.

The demands by the Minister and his wife:

Balaji and his wife claimed in the Supreme Court that once the 15-day term from the date of arrest has expired, the investigating agency is not entitled by law to pursue custodial interrogation.

The pair had previously contested the ED’s power in the Supreme Court, claiming that members of the anti-money laundering investigation agency are not considered police officers.

The ED arrested Balaji in 2021 based on an Enforcement Case Information Register (ECIR) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Raid at Balaji’s personal assistant’s house:

The ECIR was launched in response to three First Information Reports (FIRs) submitted against him by local police in 2018, accusing him of being involved in a cash-for-job scheme during his stint as Transport Minister in Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet in 2015.

As part of its ongoing money laundering probe, the Enforcement Directorate recently raided the home of Senthil Balaji’s assistant, Shankar, in Karur district. Two bags of documents were taken from his home by officials.

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