Chennai: A city court in Chennai on Tuesday ordered issuing notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on arrested former minister and DMK leader, Senthil Balaji's discharge petition in connection with a money laundering case.
City Civil and Sessions Court's III Additional Judge, DV Aanand, has ordered issuing a notice to ED, returnable by March 4. Balaji had filed a plea in the court requesting to discharge him from the case last week.
Balaji was arrested by the ED on June 14, 2023, in connection with a money laundering case linked to a cash-for-jobs scam when he was the transport minister in the erstwhile AIADMK government. In 2018, he had switched over to the ruling DMK. Last week, his resignation as a minister from the M K Stalin-led state cabinet was accepted by Governor RN Ravi.
After being arrested by the ED, Balaji underwent a bypass surgery and was later taken into custody for questioning. He was kept in judicial custody that was extended by the court.
Earlier, ED had submitted a 3,000-page chargesheet against Balaji in the court. The agency had alleged that the cash-for-job scam was executed under Balaji's tenure and recruitment process in the transport department had turned into a 'corrupt chiefdom'.
In October, the Madras High Court had dismissed his bail petition and prior to that, the Principal Sessions Judge had dismissed it twice on the ground that he may influence witnesses if granted bail.
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