Senthil Balaji's bail plea dismissed for the third time by city court

For the third time in row, a sessions court here on Friday dismissed the bail petition filed by Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji, arrested by the ED last year in money laundering case.

Principal Sessions Judge S Alli dismissed the bail petition of the DMK leader on the ground that there was no change of circumstances in the case.

Among others, the court said long period incarceration cannot be a criteria for granting bail.

''It is true that the accused is in custody from 14.6.2023 till date. Investigation has been completed, complaint has been filed before this court, cognizance has been taken and the case is now pending for framing of charges. Long period of incarceration is not a criteria for granting of bail in as much as the accused faces a case under the provisions of PML Act,'' PSJ Alli said. The judge said all the contentions of Balaji's counsel were aimed to convince the court that the petitioner has created a strong suspicion over the case of the respondent-- ED Deputy Director, Chennai and thereby disproved the latter's case based on probabilities. ''However, the doubts raised by the petitioner now are not sufficient to hold that the petitioner cannot be presumed to be not guilty, since the respondent has made out a prima facie for the alleged offence u/s 3 of PMLA,'' the court said.

While considering the bail application itself, the court has to satisfy the twin conditions that the petitioner is not guilty of such offence and he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. ''Of course, such discharge of burden could be based on probabilities, however, in the case on hand, there are sufficient materials on record submitted by the respondent showing the active involvement of the petitioner/accused or activities connected with the proceeds of crime and attempt to project the proceeds of crime as untainted money, how he was benefited from the proceeds of crime and acquired through the criminal action relating to scheduled offence etc,'' the PSJ said.

The court said that apart from satisfying the twin conditions enumerated in Sec.45 of PMLA, 2002, the petitioner has to satisfy the triple test as required under the provision Under Sec.439 of Cr.P.C. As such, among the other circumstances, the factors to be borne in mind while considering an application for bail are-- whether the accused is at flight risk, possibility of tampering with the evidence and influencing of witnesses. ''As stated by the learned Additional Solicitor General, the petitioner is still continuing as a Minister without portfolio, Government Tamil Nadu and therefore, there is every possibility for influencing the witnesses. Also, while dealing with the bail application, the court has to take into consideration gravity of the crime, character of the evidence, status of the accused, likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice and repeating the offence, possibility of tampering of witnesses etc.'' ''At this juncture, it is to be mentioned that one of the accused in the case, Ashok Kumar, brother of the petitioner is still absconding and not co­operating for investigation. In these circumstances, the court cannot come to a conclusion that the petitioner has satisfied either the twin conditions as per Sec.45 of PML Act, or the triple test as required u/s 439 of Cr.P.C,'' the PSJ added.

Balaji was arrested on June 14, 2023 by the Enforcement Directorate 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.

Soon after his arrest, he underwent a bypass surgery at a private hospital in the city. Later, the ED took him into custody for interrogation and following that he was remanded in judicial custody. His remand has been periodically extended by the court.

In August, the central agency had filed a 3000-page chargesheet against Balaji. The Madras High Court had on October 19 dismissed a bail petition filed by him. His earlier bail applications were dismissed twice by the PSJ.