CHENNAI: The principal sessions court in Chennai has extended the judicial custody of jailed minister V Senthilbalaji till October 13.

Minister Senthilbalaji was produced before Chennai principal judge S Alli through video conferencing from Puzhal prison as his judicial custody ended on September 29.

Subsequently, the judge extended his judicial custody for another 14 days.

Senthilbalaji's judicial custody has been extended for the 7th time after he was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 14 at his residence in Chennai.

The investigating agency registered the PMLA case against Senthilbalaji over an alleged cash-for-jobs scam during his tenure as Transport Minister in the then AIADMK regime.

On the same day, the principal sessions judge subjugated Senthilbalaji under judicial custody.

Subsequently, he underwent major surgery for the complaint of artery vein blockage and later he was shifted to Puzhal prison.

Later Senthilbalaji was produced before the sessions court in Chennai on August 12 and the ED submitted a charge sheet of about 200 pages and 3000 pages of documents related to the investigation in a sealed cover.

It may be noted that the principal judge also refused to grant bail to Senthilbalaji, while the ED objected to his bail citing the twin conditions of section 45 of PMLA.