"Choose between ministership or freedom," says SC to Senthil Balaji

New Delhi [India], April 23 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday told DMK leader V Senthil Balaji, who is accused of alleged money laundering in the 'cash-for-jobs', scam to make a choice "between post and freedom" as it warned him of cancelling bail if he did not step down as minister in Tamil Nadu.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih gave him until April 28 to decide whether to continue holding ministerial office or retain the bail granted to him.
"There is grave apprehension that you will interfere and will influence witnesses. You have to choose between the post (minister) and freedom. What choice do you want to make?" Justice Oka asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was appearing for Balaji.
The bench said that it had granted bail to Balaji in September 2024 on the understanding that he was no longer a minister.
It took exception to the fact that Balaji was reinstated as a Tamil Nadu cabinet minister days after getting bail in the case.
"You were granted bail not on merits, but on the ground of the violation of Article 21 (of the constitution, guaranteeing the protection of life and personal liberty)," said the bench to his lawyers.
The court was hearing pleas to recall Balaji's bail on the grounds that he had influenced witnesses in the case.
During the hearing, Justice Oka wondered what signals the Supreme Court would be sending if such a person is allowed to be on bail, despite the categorical findings in the 2024 judgment about his role in the 'cash for job' scam.
The reference was to a previous judgment, which recorded that Balaji forced people to withdraw complaints against him.
"When you were a minister, categorical findings have been recorded against you in the manner in which you brought about the settlement, and the proceedings are quashed. The grant of bail does not mean the power to influence witnesses. In the past, you have influenced witnesses," noted the bench.
last year, the apex court was surprised after knowing that Balaji was appointed as Minister in Tamil Nadu soon after he was granted bail in the money laundering case.
By the September 26, 2024, judgment, the apex court had granted bail to Balaji despite finding that there was a prima facie case against him on the grounds of his long incarceration since June 2023 and the unlikelihood of the trial commencing soon.
On September 29, Balaji took oath as the minister.
Balaji, arrested on June 14, 2023 in connection with a money laundering case linked to a cash-for-jobs scam when he was the Transport Minister during an earlier AIADMK regime.
The ED arrested Balaji in 2021 in connection with an Enforcement Case Information Register (ECIR) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The ECIR was registered on the basis of three FIRs lodged against him by the local police in 2018 for his alleged involvement in a cash-for-job case when he was the Transport Minister in Jayalalithaa's Cabinet in 2015.
The charges date back to his tenure as transport minister during the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government from 2011 to 2015.
He joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in December 2018 and assumed office as the Electricity Minister after the party came to power in May 2021. (ANI)