New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking a review of its September 26 judgment granting bail to former Tamil Nadu minister and DMK strongman Senthil Balaji in a money laundering case linked to the cash-for-jobs scam.
A bench comprising justices Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih said: “Having gone through the review petition and the connected papers, we do not find any ground to review the order sought to be reviewed. There is no error apparent on the face of the record”.
The bench said that an application seeking recall of the judgment granting bail to Balaji is already being heard by the court. “An application for recall of the same order is pending which is being heard by the Court. Review Petition is dismissed”, said the bench, in an order passed on December 17 which was uploaded recently.
The apex court also rejected an application seeking an oral hearing of the review petition. “Application seeking oral hearing of the review petition is rejected”, said the bench.
The petition was filed by Y. Balaji seeking a review of the judgment and order dated 26 September 2024.
On December 20, the Supreme Court strongly criticized the appointment of DMK leader V Senthil Balaji as a minister in the Tamil Nadu government days after he was granted bail in a money laundering case over the cash-for-job "scam", saying it was “terribly wrong”, and expressed its worry as the trial was on in a case of money laundering allegedly involving him. The apex court noted that most of the witnesses in the case were public servants and the victims were common people.
A bench comprising justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government and sought clarification on this aspect. The bench sought information from the state government on how many witnesses remain to be examined in the case. “It can't be axiomatic that the moment a person is released he becomes a minister, there is something wrong”, said the bench.
