The Supreme Court has relaxed V. Senthil Balaji’s strict bail condition, saying he must now appear only when officially summoned. The court noted his flawless compliance for 1.5 years and called the previous requirement unnecessarily burdensome.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Monday heard former Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthil Balaji’s request to relax his bail conditions in the money laundering case linked to the alleged cash-for-jobs scam. His lawyers told the court that the conditions were too strict, especially since the trial had not even started.
The Enforcement Directorate, appearing as the respondent, argued that
“this application is essentially a review similar conditions were imposed earlier and he moved an MA then too.”
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Balaji, questioned why such strict conditions were needed when the case had not progressed.
He said,
“the trial hasn’t even begun. How can he influence anyone?”
During the hearing, Justice Bagchi pointed out that Balaji had been regularly appearing before authorities without fail.
the Supreme Court also heard arguments from the Enforcement Directorate, which insisted that Balaji’s request was not new.
The agency argued that the plea was “actually in the form of a review,” saying that in an earlier situation, another accused had also challenged similar bail conditions and later filed a miscellaneous application. The Bench, however, did not accept this reasoning.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned the ED sharply on why Balaji was being made to attend so frequently. Referring to the regular attendance routine, he asked,
“a man is going before you every Monday to Friday. He has a cup of tea with your officer? Is this necessary?” After pointing out that Balaji has been complying for more than one and a half years, the judge added that such conditions were causing needless trouble for both Balaji and the officer who needed to be available.
He remarked,
“harassment, political intimidation… how are you justifying attendance twice a week?”
Even when the ED tried to argue that Balaji had been granted bail despite not satisfying the twin conditions under Section 45 of the PMLA, the Supreme Court remained unimpressed.
The respondents’ counsel also protested that Balaji had already appeared on “31 dates in 31 months,” but the court still felt there was no reason to continue the strict rule.
The Bench also recalled that in November, it had agreed to examine Balaji’s request to relax the bail clauses 31(c) and 31(e), which earlier required frequent appearances. These conditions had been imposed in September 2024 when the Supreme Court had granted bail to Balaji after reserving its verdict against him in August.
That earlier bench, comprising Justices Abhay Oka and Augustine George Masih, had questioned the ED on why the trial was not progressing.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Advocate Zoheb Hossain had appeared for the ED at that time, with Hossain stating that Balaji was the main accused in three predicate offences and that even if one trial was delayed, the PMLA trial could still continue on the basis of the other two.
Balaji is currently challenging the Madras High Court’s February decision, which had rejected his bail plea on merit and instructed the trial court to conduct daily hearings and finish the trial within three months.
Earlier, in August 2023, the Supreme Court had dismissed the appeals filed by Balaji and his wife Megala, where they had questioned the order granting ED custody in the case.
The allegations against Balaji relate to the period when he served as Transport Minister in Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet from 2011 to 2015.
The ED claims a job racket operated during this time, where money was allegedly collected from people with the promise of jobs in the Metropolitan Transport Corporation, and they were later cheated.
The ED arrested Balaji on June 14 last year, and he was sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Soon after, he complained of chest pain and was admitted to the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital at Omandurar Estate, where doctors advised him to undergo CABG bypass surgery.
His wife later moved the High Court claiming the arrest procedure was faulty and asked for him to be shifted to a private hospital. The High Court rejected interim bail but allowed the hospital transfer.
He observed,
“he’s reporting twice a week for 1.5 years. Is this necessary? Has he defaulted even once? This causes needless inconvenience to both sides.”
Chief Justice of India then agreed that the conditions were too burdensome and suggested easing them. The CJI said,
“let him appear once a month.”
Kapil Sibal immediately responded,
“I’ll appear whenever required.”
After hearing all sides, the Supreme Court decided to soften the bail condition. The bench concluded that there was no need for Balaji to appear so frequently when there had been no misuse of bail.
The court announced its final direction:
“bail condition modified. Balaji must appear only when summoned, with prior notice.”
With this order, V. Senthil Balaji will no longer need to report twice every week. Instead, he must appear only when the investigating agency or the court formally calls him.
This brings major relief to the former minister, who has been following strict bail rules for nearly one and a half years in a case that is still at the trial-stage.
Case Title:
V Senthil Balaji v. The Deputy Director
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