A sessions court in the city on Wednesday extended the remand of arrested Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji to judicial custody till August 8, 2023.
Principal Sessions Judge S Alli, before whom Senthil Balaji was produced through video conferencing from the Puzhal Prison here, extended his remand.
A division bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday closed the habeas corpus petition (HCP) filed by jailed Minister V Senthil Balaji’s wife Megala.
The petitioner had alleged that Balaji’s arrest was illegal and challenged the authority of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take an accused person under its custody for interrogation.
The bench consisting of Justices Nisha Banu and D Bharatha Chakravarthy had delivered a split verdict with the presiding judge ruling against the arrest and ordering Senthil Balaji’s immediate release. But Justice Chakravarthy held the arrest legal and affirmed the ED’s powers to take an accused into custody for interrogation. He also favoured the Central agency’s plea for excluding the hospitalisation period from the days of judicial custody.
Senior counsel NR Elango, appearing for Senthil Balaji’s wife Megala, said both parties have approached the Supreme Court which would hear the matters on Wednesday and let the apex court decide on the matter.
Balaji was arrested on June 14 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case and he was in judicial custody from that day onwards.
His remand to judicial custody was extended twice subsequently.His latest judicial custody ended on July 26, 2023.Therefore, he was produced before the PSJ.
He was arrested by the ED in a cash-for-jobs scam when he was Transport Minister in the earlier AIADMK regime.
Having handled the Electricity and Prohibition and Excise portfolios earlier in the current DMK regime, Balaji is now Minister without portfolio.
