Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition, and Excise V Senthil Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 14 in connection with a transport job for cash scam. He has been sent to judicial custody till June 28 by a local court.
Balaji was arrested after a long session of questioning, officials said, even as the 47-year-old minister was admitted to a city government hospital after he complained of uneasiness. He underwent a coronary angiogram and was advised bypass surgery at the "earliest".
What is the cash for job scam?
The case goes back to 2011-2015 when allegations of bribes allegedly taken by Balaji — then an All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) minister — from job aspirants seeking appointments in the state transport department came to the fore. Balaji was a member of the state transport department of the previous AIADMK government led by J Jayalalithaa.
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When did the case come to light?
Madras High Court heard the case after several complaints were registered by affected job aspirants.
One such complaint was filed in 2018 by a technical staff in the Metro Transport Corporation (MTC) accusing Balaji and other persons of receiving bribes up to Rs 4.25 crores reportedly after making false promises of giving them jobs at various levels in the department. However, many candidates reportedly did not get these promised jobs despite allegedly paying bribes which eventually led to litigation.
The ED registered a PMLA case against Balaji and others in July 2021 and started the investigation. Four FIRs were registered against Balaji and later charge sheets were filed against him, India Today reported.
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According to a report by The Newsminute, the final report by the Central Crime Branch (with whom the complaints were registered) charged Senthil Balaji and his close associates Shanmugam, Karthikeyan and Karthik of collecting data from the state transport corporation through the senior level staff and collating the complete data of aspiring candidates.
He was also accused of issuing job appointment orders without following reservations and altering the interview marks of candidates.
What is the latest development?
In 2021, Balaji approached the Madras High Court with an appeal to quash the FIRs filed against him as he had reportedly entered into an agreement with 13 such affected aspirants and returned their money. Accepting it, the judge quashed the proceeding of the special court.
Despite multiple appeals by the police and NGOs representing the aspirants, the Madras High Court passed an order that had the effect of nullifying a Supreme Court judgment of September 8, 2022, which had restored the criminal case against the minister.
However, in May this year, the Supreme Court set aside the high court order directing a fresh probe into the suspected transport job scam and allowed the ED to continue its ongoing probe. The top court further said that a request for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) can be considered at a later stage.
Following the judgment, two weeks ago, the Income Tax department raided 40 places that were reportedly linked with Balaji and his supporters over a period of eight days.
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What are the claims regarding his arrest?
After over 19 hours of questioning, Balaji was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a government hospital early on Wednesday, DMK leaders said.
A video emerged on social media where he was seen breaking down on camera after being arrested by ED.
It has been reported that the minister complained of uneasiness during the ED raids at his premises that were ongoing since June 13.
DMK Rajya Sabha MP NR Elango termed V Senthil Balaji's arrest by the ED as "illegal" and "unconstitutional".
"Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji was picked up by the ED and brought to Omandurar government hospital. It seems he was not conscious when he was admitted to the hospital. It is totally illegal and unconstitutional arrest. We will fight it legally," NR Elango said.
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In a statement, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin said, "They had pressured him to the point of him suffering chest pain".
Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Raghupathi said that Balaji was allegedly "targeted and tortured".
"ED kept questioning him continuously for 24 hours. This is totally against human rights. They (ED) have to answer to the people and the court," he said.
