Former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji granted bail in money-laundering case
Stringent bail provisions and delay in trial cannot go together, said Justice Abhay Oka.
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The Supreme Court granted bail to former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji in a money-laundering case on Thursday, Live Law reported.
The bail was granted by a bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Augustine George Masih. Oka said that stringent bail provisions and delay in trial cannot go together.
Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in June 2023 for allegedly conspiring with transport corporation officials to appoint candidates recommended by his aides in exchange for money. He allegedly laundered the proceeds of the crime in violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The central law enforcement agency has alleged that bribes worth crores of rupees were taken from candidates in exchange for jobs when Balaji was the transport minister in Tamil Nadu’s previous All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government from 2011 to 2016.
After the party split in 2017, Balaji joined the rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which is currently in power in Tamil Nadu.
In the Supreme Court, Balaji argued that the search and seizure operations by the investigating agency were flawed, Live Law reported.
Lawyers Mukul Rohatgi and Sidharth Luthra, representing Balaji, had said that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader had been in jail for more than a year and had undergone coronary bypass surgery while in custody.
They contended that combined with the delay in...
