Former TN Minister Senthil Balaji urges Supreme Court to expunge critical observations from 2022 verdict, citing threat to fair trial. Claims strong language may bias ongoing proceedings.
New Delhi: Former Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthil Balaji has approached the Supreme Court seeking the removal of certain strong remarks made against him in a 2022 judgment related to the infamous cash-for-job scam.
Balaji has argued that these comments may unfairly influence his ongoing criminal trial and affect his right to a fair and impartial hearing as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
This plea is connected to the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling dated September 8, 2022, which reversed a decision of the Madras High Court that had quashed criminal complaints against Balaji.
These complaints were initially dismissed on the grounds of alleged settlements between the parties involved.
However, the top court reinstated the complaints, observing that there was prima facie evidence of corruption during Balaji’s tenure as Transport Minister.
In its 2022 judgment, the Supreme Court had stated in strong terms:
“Even a novice in criminal law would not have left the offences under the PC Act out of the final report”,
criticizing the investigating officer by saying he appeared
“willing to strike but afraid to wound.”
The court had further condemned the state’s approach to the investigation, noting that the entire recruitment scam deserved
“a comprehensive investigation and not piecemeal scrutiny.”
Balaji’s latest plea contends that such severe observations, even before the trial has concluded, could potentially influence the trial court’s evaluation of evidence.
His legal team has argued that the language and tone used by the apex court in the 2022 order could be seen as a premature pronouncement of guilt, thereby endangering the principle of an unbiased and fair trial.
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The petition comes amid a backdrop of previous Supreme Court interventions concerning Balaji’s role in the scandal. On April 23 this year, the Supreme Court had firmly warned Balaji that he must choose between continuing as a minister or retaining his liberty.
The bench had observed that if he failed to resign, it could lead to the cancellation of his bail. In response to this warning, Balaji resigned from the M.K. Stalin-led cabinet on April 27.
However, in a move that sparked fresh controversy, Balaji was re-inducted into the Tamil Nadu cabinet on September 29, 2024—just three days after he was granted bail. What drew even more criticism was that he was reassigned the same portfolios he had previously held: electricity, non-conventional energy, prohibition, and excise.
This reappointment raised serious concerns within the judiciary, especially since Balaji had spent more than 15 months in jail in connection with a money laundering case linked to the scam.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had launched its investigation into the case in July 2021. This was based on three FIRs filed in 2018, which alleged that the entire recruitment process in the state’s transport department during Balaji’s tenure from 2011 to 2015—under the then AIADMK regime—was riddled with corruption.
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The ED described the system as functioning like a
“corrupt chiefdom.”
Now, with his plea pending before the Supreme Court, Senthil Balaji seeks the expungement of what he perceives as prejudicial and excessive judicial comments from the 2022 verdict.
He believes these remarks, if left unremoved, could jeopardize the fairness of his trial. The Supreme Court is yet to fix a date for the hearing on this matter.
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