The Madras High Court has ruled against the release of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) minister, V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested last month by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. The decision was made by Justice CV Karthikeyan in a habeas corpus petition filed by Balaji’s wife seeking his release.
Justice Karthikeyan agreed with the earlier opinion rendered by Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy that the ED was entitled to seek custody of Balaji. He stated,
“Once the arrest is legal and the remand is legal, I have to concur with DBCJ’s view that the HCP though maintainable but cannot be allowed.”
In his order, Justice Karthikeyan noted,
“If investigation requires custody then custody is to be given as a matter of right … But no accused has a right to frustrate inquiry. Even prior to his ill health, the accused refused to accept grounds of arrest and then claimed he was not provided grounds of arrest. This cannot be considered by this Court. It must be declared a falsity … When arrest is possible, then seeking custody is also permissible.”
The judge also referred to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Y Balaji v. Karthik Desai, where the apex court had refused to discharge Balaji in the cash-for-jobs scam in May this year. The Supreme Court had observed that when the accused and the complainant arrived at a compromise, they also compromised on “justice, fair-play, good conscience and the fundamental principles of criminal jurisprudence.”
Justice Karthikeyan observed,
“The Supreme Court’s observations are very telling. They go to the root of the matter to show why the June 13 search was conducted by ED. This Supreme Court judgment was not pointed out before the division bench by either side. I will be failing in my duty if I didn’t examine this judgment as that is what led to the ED proceedings.”
The judge concluded that the plea for Balaji’s release should be dismissed. He noted that the issue arose because of complaints that the process of Balaji’s arrest and detention had affected his well-being. He took note of the submission that Balaji was not intimated of the grounds on which he was being arrested, thereby violating his Constitutional rights. However, he proceeded to highlight the ED’s contention that Balaji did not cooperate with the probe agency and threw tantrums, threatened officials, and also refused to sign the memo of grounds of arrest.
In his order, the judge held,
“The respondents were at his (Balaji’s) doors since June 13. He should have known why. He can’t claim innocence … If the reasons to grant remand outweigh the objections to remand, then certainly such remand will have to be granted.”
The minister was arrested last month in connection with a cash-for-jobs scam after undergoing questioning by the ED in the case. The case arose from alleged irregularities in the appointment of bus conductors in the State transport department and the appointment of drivers and junior engineers. All of these appointments were made during Balaji’s tenure as Transport Minister in the AIADMK government between 2011 and 2015.