Supreme Court grants bail to ex-TN minister Senthil Balaji in cash-for-jobs case

New Delhi: Taking note of a delay in trial, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to former Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji who was in jail for 13 months in a money laundering case arising out of the cash-for-jobs allegations being probed by the Enforcement Directorate.

A bench comprising Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih granted bail as there will be considerable delay in the trial to complete.

Justice Oka said that stringent bail provisions and delay in trial cannot go together.

The Apex Court had reserved its decision on Balaji’s petition on August 12, 2024. Detailed copy of the judgment delivered on Thursday is awaited.

“We have considered the judgment pronounced in the Najeeb case and have slightly expanded the scope in the bail conditions. We have imposed very onerous bail conditions in this case," Justice Oka said.

Senthil Balaji, a former Tamil Nadu Minister and current MLA, is accused in a money laundering case on allegations of his involvement in a cash-for-jobs scam during his tenure as the state's transport Minister between 2011 and 2016.

In June 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), on charges linked to this scam.

Balaji had approached the Madras High Court for bail which was denied due to a lack of merit.

The court noted that the ED's investigation relied on documents already present in the predicate offence and found no grounds to suspect evidence tampering.

The High Court also directed the Special Court to expedite the trial, considering Balaji's long incarceration.

Balaji then challenged the Madras High Court order denying him bail before the Supreme Court.

Balaji, through Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Sidharth Luthra, had contended that the deposits of Rs 1.34 crore in his bank account between 2013 and 2021 were derived from his agriculture income and salary as an MLA

Rohatgi argued that the prosecution had overlooked these legitimate sources of income and wrongly attributed them to the alleged scam.

Balaji further argued that the search and seizure operations by the investigating agencies were flawed. Specifically, Rohatgi pointed out discrepancies in the hard disk evidence, where a Seagate hard disk was mentioned in court proceedings, but an HP hard disk was actually recovered.

Rohatgi also highlighted that Balaji has been incarcerated for over 13 months and underwent a coronary bypass surgery while in custody.

The defence argued that this, combined with the long delay in the trial's commencement, qualifies Balaji for bail under Section 45 of the PMLA, which allows for bail in exceptional circumstances like illness.

The ED, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Advocate Zoheb Hossain, argued that MLA salary is deposited directly into bank account and Balaji's declared income in his election affidavits significantly differed from the amounts he now claims as agricultural income.

The ED contended that an incriminating "csac.xlsx" file, which details the amounts allegedly received in the scam, was found in the pen drive recovered from Balaji's residence. The ED also presented other documents and emails implicating Balaji, including files found on his computer showing the detailed management of the alleged scam.

The ED contended that Balaji's continued influence on the state of Tamil Nadu is helping him and ensuring that the trial in the predicate offence is not likely to conclude early.

The ED also contented that Balaji is compromising witnesses and victims in the predicate offence.