CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has approved the resignation of Minister V Senthil Balaji following a letter received from the Chief Minister on February 12, Raj Bhavan said in a press release on Tuesday.
The Raj Bhavan release said that based on a letter from Chief Minister M K Stalin dated February 12, "recommending acceptance of the resignation of Senthil Balaji" from the state Cabinet, Governor R N Ravi has approved the recommendation.
Senthil Balaji, who has been under remand since June last year in connection with a money laundering case resigned as Minister a few days ago and the resignation was forwarded to the Raj Bhavan on Monday.
Balaji was continuing as a minister in the TN cabinet without a portfolio for many months.
On June 29 last, Governor RN Ravi dismissed Balaji from the Council of Ministers, without any recommendation from the chief minister but later kept the dismissal order in abeyance.
The governor had cited ongoing criminal proceedings and other cases against Balaji as the reasons for the dismissal.
The Raj Bhavan stated that Balaji was facing serious criminal proceedings in some cases of corruption including taking cash for jobs and money laundering and accused Balaji of abusing his position as a minister and influencing the investigation, obstructing the due process of law and justice.
On May 31 last, the governor wrote a letter to the chief minister advising him to drop Balaji from the cabinet citing the SC's directive to continue the investigation into the charges against him.
However, the chief minister refused to accept this and recommended that the portfolios of Balaji should be reallocated to Thangam Thennarasu and S Muthusamy and that Balaji would continue as a minister without a portfolio until he recovers from his illness.