NEW DELHI: There was no relief for MLA and former Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthil Balaji, who had challenged the rejection of his bail by the Madras High Court in a cash-for-jobs money laundering case, as the Supreme Court on Monday fixed the next date of hearing as July 24.
Balaji's counsel, Mukul Rohatgi, sought bail as the apex court's two-judge bench, led by Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice A.G. Masih, fixed the matter for hearing on July 24.
He alleged that numerous times, the ED sought adjournment in the case. "My health is also fragile. I underwent a coronary bypass surgery. Please consider it," Rohatgi said and pleaded for bail.
While taking the court through the details of the case, he said the chargesheet has been filed by the predicate agency and the ED. The trial has not commenced.
"There is a Seagate hard disk produced by the agency which was not mentioned earlier. What was recovered was an HP hard disk," he said.
While trying to convince the court to grant bail to Balaji, he said that the forensic report mentioned details of files in a pendrive recovered during the search. "It does not contain files of alleged proceeds of crime mentioned by the ED in their complaint," he said.
Rohatgi further said that Balaji was the sole accused in the ED case and there are more than 2000 accused in the predicate offence.
It is to be noted that the Madras HC had ordered that the trial should be conducted on a day-to-day basis in accordance with the guidelines given by the top court.
The Supreme Court had earlier, in the first week of April, issued a notice to the ED and asked the Central probe agency to file a detailed reply on the petition filed by MLA and former Minister Balaji against a Madras High Court order refusing him bail in the cash-for-jobs money laundering case.
The Madras HC had, on February 28, while dismissing Balaji's bail petition, said in its order that if he is released on bail in a case of this nature, it will send a wrong signal and that it will be against larger public interest.
Balaji then moved the Supreme Court for bail, but so far he has been denied any relief in the case.
Senior advocate Aryama Sundaram, appearing for Balaji, had earlier pleaded to the Supreme Court for interim bail on the ground that he was in custody of the probe agency, ED, for more than 335 days in the cash-for-jobs money laundering case.
In one of the hearings, the ED, which is the probe agency in the case investigating the former Tamil Nadu minister Balaji's alleged role in a money laundering case arising out of a job racket scam case, opposed his bail plea and said that he played a central and pivotal role in the case.
"The accused (Senthil Balaji) played a central and pivotal role in the job racket scam during the period 2014-2015. He should not be granted bail by the top court," the ED lawyer had told the apex court's two-judge bench.
The former TN minister was arrested on June 14 last year by the ED in connection with a money laundering case related to the cash-for-jobs scam when he was the Transport minister during an earlier AIADMK regime. The ED alleged that he is involved in corruption.
The ED also filed a 1000-page chargesheet against Balaji last year in the case.
On the other hand, Balaji vehemently claimed innocence in the case and said that the ED has not identified the proceeds of crime against him and its main evidence relies on information from the predicate offence.
