In a tough message to senior DMK leader V Senthil Balaji, the Supreme Court on Aprill 23, directed him to choose between his ministerial post and retaining his bail in the cash-for-jobs scam he is accused in by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court has granted Senthil time until April 28 to make a decision.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and AG Masih cautioned Balaji that if he did not step down from his minister post, it would recall its bail order, and added that the apex court had made a mistake by ignoring the judgments against him. "We are giving him a choice. Freedom or post? There are findings recorded in the reported judgement of the court attributing a role to him in the predicate offence as minister. The judgment of the Madras High Court records how, as a minister, you tried to influence witnesses by entering into a settlement with them, based on which proceedings were quashed," the judges said.
The Justice Oka-led Bench was hearing an application seeking recall of Senthil's bail on the grounds that he may influence the witnesses in the case using his influence as a minister. Senthil was released on bail in 2024, on September 26 after 14 months of incarceration. He was inducted back into the Cabinet on September 29 of that year as Minister for Electricity, Excise and Prohibition.
During an earlier hearing, the court had reprimanded Senthil saying, "We grant bail, and the next day, you go and become a minister! Anybody will be bound to be under the impression that witnesses will be under pressure."
Serving as the Minister of Transport from 2011-2015 in the AIADMK government, he was elected as an MLA again from the Aruvarakurichi constituency in 2016. He left the AIADMK and joined the DMK in December 2018 and became the party's district secretary. He contested by-polls from Aruvakurichi in 2019 and later in the 2021 Assembly elections and became a minister for Electricity and Excise in the Stalin-led cabinet.
On June 14, 2023, the (ED)raided Balaji's house and other places in Chennai, Karur, and Coimbatore and interrogated him about cash for jobs scam while he served as the Transport Minister in the AIADMK government. After several hours of interrogation, Balaji was arrested and sent to judicial custody.
At the time, he complained of chest pain, and a medical investigation found that he had three blocks in his coronary artery. Subsequently, he was subjected to an angioplasty at a private hospital. He was shifted back to the Puzhal Central Prison after a period of recovery in hospital.
Inputs IANS