CHENNAI: Hours after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a money laundering case, former Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader V Senthil Balaji was released from the Puzhal prison here on Thursday.

The bail order ended his 471-day incarceration, as Balaji was arrested on June 14, 2023 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a cash-for-jobs scam when he was the Transport minister in an earlier AIADMK regime.

While his multiple bail pleas were rejected by a local court in Chennai and the Madras High Court during this period, the apex court granted him the relief on Thursday, while putting onerous bail conditions.

DMK Organising Secretary R S Bharathi and other party functionaries received Balaji when he walked out of the prison to a rapturous welcome by his supporters, who had thronged in huge numbers to receive him.

They showered flower petals on Balaji and raised slogans hailing him.