Tamil Nadu minister V. Senthilbalaji was not produced before the Principal Sessions Court in Chennai after his eight-day Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody ended. The state minister was arrested by the ED on money laundering charges while he was convalescing after a bypass surgery. He was not questioned following his hospitalisation. The judge had granted the ED eight-day custody to question the minister and the custody was supposed to end on Friday with a requirement to produce him before the court via video conferencing. The ED had requested for 15-day custody, but the judge granted only eight days. Since the minister remained in hospital, he was not questioned in custody, and hence he was not produced before the court after the custody period ended.
On June 16, the judge had dismissed the bail plea of the minister and the one seeking to cancel his judicial custody. The ED arrested the minister on June 14, after raiding his official residence and his chamber in the State Secretariat. The authorities remanded him in judicial custody till June 28. While being taken in a car to the ED office for interrogation, the minister complained of chest pain and was rushed to the hospital.
Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi allocated the portfolios held by the minister to other ministers on the recommendation of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin but disagreed with his continuation in the State Cabinet since he faced criminal proceedings. The opposition parties also demanded that he should be removed from the Cabinet. However, the Tamil Nadu government issued an order stating that he would continue to remain in the State Cabinet as a Minister without portfolio.
The minister’s arrest had created a controversy, causing political upheaval in the state. The opposition party members had claimed that the minister was being targeted for their political gains. The issue involves allegations of money laundering through a network of shell companies. The ED claimed that the minister possessed properties disproportionate to his known sources of income, and that more than INR 100 crore was involved in the case. The minister and his family members were already facing raids by the Income Tax Department since April.
