New Delhi:After the Madras High Court's split verdict on the habeas corpus plea for the release of DMK minister Senthil Balaji, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the chief justice of the high court to place the case before a third judge "at the earliest" and added that the new judge may decide it as early as possible. The top court turned down a plea by an Enforcement Directorate plea requesting it to decide the case rather than referring the matter to the third judge.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Enforcement Directorate, expressed apprehensions before a bench headed by justice Surya Kant and comprising justice Dipankar Datta regarding the tampering of the evidence in the case, and said an influential person is an accused and if the evidence were to be tampered then the damage is irreversible. Mehta said there are questions of law which this court may decide, instead of waiting for another bench to be constituted. Earlier in the day, a division bench of the high court delivered a split verdict in the matter.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Balaji, submitted, how can a high court be bypassed like this? He pointed out that the Supreme Court had said the high court should consider first and now there is a split verdict, so it has to go to a larger bench. Opposing Mehta’s submissions that it is a question of law which will have to be decided by the apex court, Sibal said, “Under what circumstances can you bring it to this court?”