Chennai: A city court in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai rejected the plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking police custody of Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji who is in 'Judicial Custody' after being arrested by the ED in an alleged cash-for-job scam in his early tenure as minister, sources said on Thursday.
The court also rejected Senthil's plea seeking rejection of the ED remand. Senthil Balaji, who is the Tamil Nadu Electricity and Prohibition and Excise minister, was arrested by the ED in a late night raid in the alleged cash-for-jobs scam during his tenure as Transport Minister in the previous AIDMK government led by late Jayalalitha between 2011 and 2015.
Also read: Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji sent to judicial custody till June 28 in Money laundering case
Senthil was arrested by under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was sent to judicial custody till 28 June. While Balaji had sought for interim bail and a plea to be shifted to a private hospital for further treatment, the ED had prayed for his police custody. However, Principal Sessions Court rejected Senthil Balaji's petition seeking to reject his remand of fifteen days.
Sources said that the judge dismissed the petition as infructuous since Balaji, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), had already been sent to judicial custody earlier. Balaji was arrested after a long session of questioning. A local court later sent him to judicial custody till June 28. The ED had launched multi-city searches in the state on Tuesday on the premises linked to the DMK's Karur strongman as part of the probe into money laundering.
