CHENNAI: Incarcerating in the Central Prison at Chennai Puzhal after being arrested in money laundering case, Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji’s third attempt to get bail from the Principal Sessions and Special Court for PMLA Cases went in vain as the judge dismissed his latest bail application on Friday.
Disapproving of the Minister’s contentions that the circumstances have changed since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has completed the investigation and interrogation and his custody is not required for further interrogation, Principal Sessions Judge S Alli declined to grant him the relief.
“There is no change in the circumstances,” the judge observed while pronouncing the orders on the third bail application.
The two petitions filed earlier also met with the same fate. Senthil Balaji had unsuccessfully attempted to get bail from the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court as well.
During arguments in the latest bail application in the Principal Sessions Court, senior counsel Aryama Sundaram, representing the Minister, contended that he had been incarcerated for 207 days even as the investigation was completed. Moreover, he alleged that the Central agency could not muster substantial evidence to prove the charges.
However, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ARL Sundaresan stoutly opposed the bail plea saying that Senthil Balaji was continuing to be a Minister wielding so much influence; and so, he would derail the investigation and threaten the witnesses if enlarged on bail.
He had also stated that the ED, which arrested him on June 14, 2023, under the PMLA on the charges of laundering proceeds of crime generated through the cash for jobs scam, had not cooperated with the Central agency during interrogation and his brother Ashok Kumar, a co-accused, continued to be absconding without even responding to repeated summons for inquiry.