New Delhi [India], December 23 : The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea seeking review of the order granting bail to Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji in a money laundering case related to the cash-for-jobs scam.
A bench of Justices AS Oka and Augustine George Masih also rejected the prayer for an open court hearing of the review petition.
The review petition sought a review of the judgment granting bail to Balaji on September 26, 2024.
"Having gone through the review petition and the connected papers, we do not find any ground to review the order sought to be reviewed. There is no error apparent on the face of the record. An application for recall of the same order is pending which is being heard by the Court. Review Petition is dismissed," the bench stated in its order on December 17.
The same bench is also hearing an application seeking recall of the bail order Balaji on the ground that witnesses would be under pressure since Balaji was appointed minister after his release.
The apex court will hear that application in January 2025.
On December 2, the bench was surprised after knowing that Balaji was appointed as Minister in Tamil Nadu soon after he was granted bail in the money laundering case.
"We grant bail and the next day you go and become Minister. Anybody will be bound to be under the impression that now with your position as a senior cabinet minister witnesses will be under pressure. What is this going on?" the top court had said.
The bench had earlier said that it would not recall the judgment but it would limit the scope of enquiry to whether the witnesses were under pressure.
By September 26 judgment, the apex court granted bail to Balaji, despite finding that there was a prima facie case against him, on the ground of his long incarceration, since June 2023, and the unlikelihood of the trial commencing soon.
On September 29, Balaji took oath as the minister.
Balaji, was arrested on June 14, 2023, in connection with a money laundering case linked to a cash-for-jobs scam when he was the Transport Minister during an earlier AIADMK regime.
The ED had arrested Balaji in connection with an Enforcement Case Information Register (ECIR) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2021.
The ECIR was registered on the basis of three FIRs lodged against him by the local police in 2018 for his alleged involvement in a cash-for-job case when he was the Transport Minister in Jayalalithaa's Cabinet in 2015.
The charges date back to his tenure as transport minister during the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government from 2011 to 2015.
He joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in December 2018 and assumed office as the Electricity Minister after the party came to power in May 2021.