New Delhi (Agency): Megala, the wife of Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthil Balaji, who has been arrested, is now challenging his arrest in the Supreme Court. The Madras High Court approved his arrest on July 14. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which investigates economic crimes, arrested him for a case about money laundering.
The minister was not only arrested, but the high court also agreed that a lower court was right to keep him in jail. This case is related to a scam in which people paid money to get jobs in the state’s transport department. Senthil Balaji was the transport minister at that time. He is still a minister, but he does not have any specific duties right now.
Megala disagrees with the high court’s decision and has taken her argument to the Supreme Court. She filed her case on Monday, said DMK spokesperson Saravanan.
The high court had appointed a third judge, Justice C.V. Karthikeyan, to listen to Megala’s appeal. This happened because two judges could not agree on a decision. Justice Karthikeyan agreed with Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy that Senthil Balaji’s arrest was right. He also said that Senthil Balaji should not be able to stop the investigation.
Justice Karthikeyan told the court staff to ask Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala when the ED could take Senthil Balaji into their custody. Senthil Balaji had heart surgery and is in the hospital right now. On Monday, he was moved to Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai from a private hospital.
In the high court, Megala claimed that her husband was in the ED’s custody unlawfully. She asked the court to let him go free.
Justice Nisha Banu disagreed with the other judges. She said that the ED had no right to keep Senthil Balaji in custody and that the time he spent in the hospital should not be counted as part of his jail time.
However, Justice Chakravarthy said the ED had the right to take Balaji into custody. She also said that the time in the hospital can be excluded from the jail time.
Justice Karthikeyan explained that according to the person who made the complaint, he had paid Rs 2.40 lakh to get a job. This is why an FIR was filed, and then the ED started the case. Then Senthil Balaji, who was the transport minister in a past AIADMK government, was arrested by the ED.
However, Justice Karthikeyan said there are still questions that need to be answered. For example, when was the money given, where did it go, and how was it “legally converted.” He also said that on the day the lower court gave Senthil Balaji to the ED, he was not in good health. So the ED did not take him into custody right away. The judge said this is why the time he spent in the hospital should not be counted as jail time.
Finally, regarding the habeas corpus petition (asking to release a person who has been arrested), the judge said that even though it could be filed, it should not be allowed.
