The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed the plea of V Senthil Balaji, former Tamil Nadu Minister and current DMK leader, effectively denying his request to be discharged from a pending money laundering case. The decision came after Balaji’s counsel opted to withdraw the petition during the proceedings.
Justices S M Subramaniam and V Sivagnanam presided over the division bench that handled Balaji’s criminal revision petition. The petition aimed to challenge an earlier sessions court order that had refused to discharge him. The court noted that the trial had already progressed, with charges being framed on August 8, 2024, and the examination of a Prosecution Witness occurring on August 16, followed by ongoing cross-examinations.
Balaji’s legal team indicated that with the trial having commenced, there was little merit in continuing to pursue the dismissal petition. Based on this stance, an endorsement to withdraw the petition was made, leading the bench to dismiss the plea as withdrawn.
This case roots back to allegations during Balaji’s tenure as the transport minister from 2011 to 2015 under the AIADMK regime, where he was implicated in a cash-for-jobs scandal. The Enforcement Directorate arrested him on June 14, 2023, and later filed a comprehensive charge sheet against him, spanning 3,000 pages, on August 12, 2023.
