The Supreme Court referred to the attempt as a “complete fraud on the judicial system” and demanded that all cases involving Senthil Balaji that are currently pending before the highest court be listed.
New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government’s “attempt to postpone” the trial in cases involving former state minister V Senthil Balaji by naming over 2,000 individuals as suspects in a purported cash-for-jobs scam infuriated the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The attempt was referred to as a “complete fraud on the judicial system” by a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, who also called for a listing of all cases involving Balaji that are still pending before the top court and scheduled the hearing for Wednesday.
“We would like to know who the alleged brokers or middlemen were, aside from the minister,” Justice Kant stated. Which officers carried out the minister’s recommendations?
Who made up the selection committee? Who were the decision-makers who made the appointment?
The bench noted that poor people who were forced to pay for jobs by the former minister or his goons are being accused of bribery and implicated in cases pertaining to the “scam” because the state’s efforts seem to be intended to prevent the trial proceedings from being finished during Mr. Balaji’s lifetime.
“You (the state) are more eager to bring charges against them so that the trial process never ends during the minister’s lifetime. This is how you do it.
The bench informed the state’s attorney who was appearing in court that “this is a complete fraud being committed on the system.”
Senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and Amit Anand Tiwari, who were representing the Tamil Nadu government in the court, asserted that Y Balaji, the petitioner, is engaging in forum shopping by going straight to the Supreme Court rather than the high court on behalf of the victims of the alleged scam.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who represented the petitioner in the case, charged that the state conspired with the former minister and tried to postpone the trial.
Y Balaji filed a petition with the top court contesting the Madras High Court’s March 28 ruling that dismissed pleas opposing the clubbing of several chargesheets in cases pertaining to the purported scam.
Approximately 2,300 people are accused in cases involving the former Tamil Nadu minister in the cash-for-jobs “scam,” according to a report submitted to the top court in April by a trial judge.
Following his removal by the top court, V Senthil Balaji resigned from the state cabinet led by M K Stalin on April 27.
On April 23, the top court warned Mr. Balaji that his bail would be revoked if he did not resign as a minister, and it asked him to choose “between post and freedom.”
It objected to Mr. Balaji’s reinstatement as a minister in the southern state just days after he was granted bail in a case involving money laundering connected to the “scam” of cash for jobs.
Mr. Balaji, who had been incarcerated for over 15 months, was granted bail by the top court on September 26, 2024, noting that there was no chance the trial would be finished anytime soon.
On September 29 of last year, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi swore in Mr. Balaji (48) as a minister. He was given the same important portfolios that he had previously held in the Stalin cabinet: electricity, non-conventional energy development, prohibition, and excise.
The “scam” that allegedly occurred when Mr. Balaji worked as the state’s transport minister from 2011 to 2015 according to the previous the AIADMK administration led him to arrest on June 14, 2023.
Mr. Balaji is the member of parliament for the Karur constituency in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
The governor of Tamil Nadu accepted Mr. Balaji’s leave from the council of ministers on February 13 of last year. The relief provided by the top court on September 26, 2024, put an end to Mr. Balaji’s 471-day detention.
Following three FIRs filed by the Tamil Nadu Police in 2018 and in response to complaints from those harmed by the alleged scam, the ED opened a money-laundering case in July 2021 to look into the claims.
The entire hiring procedure in the state transport department during Mr. Balaji’s time as minister was allegedly transformed into a “corrupt chiefdom,” according to the ED chargesheet.
Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available court proceedings and official statements. It does not assume guilt or innocence and does not intend to influence ongoing legal matters.
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