Senthil Balaji Case: SC Defers ED Plea Hearing, Waits For Madras HC Decision

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) suffered a major setback in the Senthil Balaji case when the Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred the hearing the petitions of the directorate till the matter is decided by Madras High Court.

The apex court said the HC had erred when it entertained a habeas corpus petition filed by disgraced Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji’s wife, which allowed him to be moved to a private hospital for treatment.

The ED was asked by the apex court to argue its case before the Madras High Court first, moving against its order which allowed the exclusion of the period he was hospitalised from the ED’s 15-day remand period.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta termed the Madras High Court order to be illegal, saying that it sets a bad precedent.

Mehta also insisted that the duration of Balaji’s hospitalisation ought to be excluded from the first 15 days of the remand period.

The SC bench comprising of Justices Surya Kant and MM Sundresh, however, did not consider the plea on the ground that the matter was being considered by the Madras HC.

Commenting on this, Mehta said that the trial court will also not consider it as the High Court is examining the matter. “The Supreme Court also says it will not examine as the High Court is examining. This way we are left remediless," he interjected.

However, Justice Suryakant refused to interfere, saying that the High Court is bound to follow the judicial principles. He said they will examine it in case of any error by the High Court.

Senior advocate NK Kaul, who was appearing for Senthil Balaji, informed that Balaji had four cardiac blockages and that he was now in the post-operative stage. He commented that these heart blockages were not ‘self-created.’

Senthil Balaji is the former Electricity and Prohibition and Excise minister of Tamil Nadu and he was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on June 14, in an alleged scam of taking money in lieu of jobs that purportedly took place during his tenure as the transport minister in the erstwhile AIADMK government led by the late former CM J Jayalalithaa.

The ED submitted in its plea before the top court that the high court was wrong in entertaining the said habeas corpus petition, claiming it to be not maintainable after the passing of a judicial order which remanded the accused in the custody of the agency engaged in anti-money laundering operations.

"The validity of an arrest cannot be challenged in a habeas corpus petition once the person arrested has been validly remanded to custody. The high court erred in entertaining the habeas corpus petition when Senthil Balaji was duly remanded to custody by the Special Court. The said petition was liable to be dismissed at the outset for being not maintainable," the ED said.

The agency termed as untenable the order which allowed the shifting of Balaji to a private hospital, without consideration to the specific request made on behalf of the ED for an independent and impartial medical opinion to be sought regarding his medical condition.

On June 15, the HC had allowed the minister to be shifted to a private facility, although at the time he was availing medical treatment at a government hospital after his arrest. The Madras High Court has also issued a notice on the main plea of the 'illegal' arrest of Balaji to the ED, posting the matter on June 22.

The high court had also said Balaji would continue to be in judicial custody and allowed the ED to have the minister examined by its own team of doctors.

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