Who is Senthil Balaji? Why he is being Arrested?
Senthil Balaji is a prominent politician in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He is an All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party member and has held several important positions within the party and the state government. Balaji began his political career as a student leader and quickly rose through the ranks of the AIADMK. He has served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Aravakurichi constituency and has held several ministerial positions, including Minister for Electricity, Prohibition, and Excise.
Senthil Balaji, a former minister in the Tamil Nadu government, was arrested in 2018 on charges of allegedly assaulting a woman during a party meeting. He denies the allegations, and the case is still ongoing. Balaji has been involved in other controversies, including his expulsion from the AIADMK party in 2017 for supporting a rival faction. In 2021, he made controversial remarks about the late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, but later retracted his statement and apologized.
Why was he arrested by the ED?
Balaji was taken into custody in relation to a cash-for-job scandal that took place between 2011 and 2015 while he was the AIADMK government’s Transport Minister. The minister is charged with soliciting several millions of rupees from people under the pretense of arranging for their positions as drivers, conductors, and technicians in the State Transport Corporations. He is also accused of cooperating with his brother and personal assistant.
The Central Chennai Police (CCB) had filed three FIRs against the defendants based on these corruption charges. The ED summoned the three accused and filed a second case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against them.
However, The Madras High Court dismissed the summons sent to Minister Balaji and two other people in July 2021. On September 1, 2022, the High Court dismissed one of the three FIRs that had been filed against Balaji but instructed the police to launch a new investigation into the minister.
The Supreme Court of India reinstated the corruption allegations against Balaji and others, which had been rejected by the High Court, only eight days after the HC decision. “We feel that the High Court made a grave error in dismissing the criminal complaint,” a bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and V Ramasubramaniam wrote.
ED in Action
On Tuesday, June 13, and early Wednesday morning, June 14, the ED conducted raids at Senthil Balaji’s offices before arresting him. However, his unexpected medical emergency forced the agency to transport him to a government hospital, where he had a medical examination after complaining of chest pain.
The minister was tortured by the ED for more than 24 hours, according to DMK ministers who visited the hospital to check on Balaji, and the ED “will have to answer in court,” according to ANI.
The opposition refers to it as Senthi’s drama: Senthil Balaji, a minister, is staging a play, according to the opposition AIADMK party. when Our leader and former minister Jayakumar was imprisoned and jailed for 20 days. Even taking medication was forbidden for him. He needs to quit right now out of moral obligation, according to Edapaddi K. Palaniswamy, general secretary of the LoP and AIADMK.