MHC dismisses Senthilbalaji's bail plea, once again

: The Madras High Court (MHC) dismissed the bail plea of jailed ex-minister V Senthilbalaji in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case connected to a job racket scam while he was a minister in the AIADMK regime.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh dismissed the bail plea of the former minister as the petition lacks merit. Since the petitioner has been incarcerated for more than 8 months, the judge directed the principal sessions court to complete the trial of the PMLA case within three months on a day-to-day basis.

It may be noted that earlier on October 19, 2023, the MHC denied granting bail to Senthilbalaji under medical grounds and also cited the abscondence of his brother Ashok Kumar, who is also the co-accused in the PMLA case.

Senthilbalaji was arrested under PMLA, by the 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 coronary artery 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.