CHENNAI: Minister V Senthil Balaji’s judicial custody has been extended by two more weeks till July 12 by the principal sessions court in Chennai on Wednesday. As his 14-day remand period ended on Wednesday, the minister was produced before principal sessions judge S Alli through a videoconference facility. When the judge asked about his health, the minister, recuperating after a bypass surgery at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai, said he was still down with pain.
Senthil Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the wee hours of June 14 in connection with a money laundering case filed in 2021 following the trials of a cash-for-jobs scam during his stint as transport minister in the AIADMK government between 2011 and 2015.
He was initially admitted to the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital at Omandurar Estate after he complained of chest pain. The doctors, who examined him, identified blocks in his heart and recommended immediate surgery to remove them. He was shifted to Kauvery Hospital after the Madras High Court gave its nod by taking into account his health condition.
ED was given 8 days, but did not question Senthil
The ED pressed for examining him by a team of medical experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIM S)-Delhi, but the court, which passed the order based on a habeas corpus petition (HCP) filed by his wife Megala, did not agree to it.
The judges, however, allowed ED to form an expert team to monitor the minister’s health at the private hospital. In the meantime, the central agency was granted eight days of police custody by the principal sessions court, but the agency refrained from questioning him considering his health status.