'Not prohibited by SC from being a minister': Senthil Balaji responds to ED’s allegations

Tamil Nadu minister for electricity, prohibition and excise, V. Senthil Balaji on Tuesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in response to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) allegations that he is exerting pressure and influence on the witnesses in the cash for jobs scam case.

 

In his affidavit, Balaji said that he was not prohibited from being a minister by the Supreme Court in its bail order and that his appointment as minister was not in any way contrary to the bail conditions imposed by the SC or contrary to any law. 

 

Balaji also argued that there has been no specific allegation by the complainant that he exerted pressure on him as a minister. “No specific allegation by the complainant, Vidhya Kumar, that as a Minister he had exerted influence over any witnesses. Recalling of bail is rare. The application filed by ED to recall his bail is not maintainable, devoid of substance and ought to be dismissed at the outset,” Balaji argued through his affidavit filed before the SC. 

 

The SC, a few months before, took a stern view against Balaji being reinstated into the cabinet. The court had asked him to respond clearly to its question on whether he found “it fit to continue as a minister while he is an accused in the case.”

 

Incidentally, Balaji is one of the ministers who has been facing legal troubles for the past two years since the ED took him into custody. The ED has been after him in the cash-for-jobs scam and very recently he was targeted when the investigating agency launched a state-wide search in TASMAC, the state’s liquor retailer. Sources then said that Balaji was the target of the searches as he heads the prohibition and excise department. 

 

Considered to be a master strategist within the DMK circles, Balaji is the in-charge of the Coimbatore and Karur region in the party. While Karur is his fiefdom, he ensured victory for the party in Coimbatore since he was made the in-charge. Within the DMK too, he has a strong opposition as he is looked at as a newcomer who defected from the AIADMK. In the 2021 elections, Balaji’s intervention ensured that BJP’s K.Annamalai lost from the Aravakurichi assembly segment.

India