Tamil Nadu: Supreme Court to hear Tamil Nadu minister’s plea challenging arrest today | India News

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on Friday DMK leader V Senthil Balaji’s petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for his alleged role, as then minister in the AIADMK government, in the recruitment scam in Tamil Nadu state transport undertakings (STUs). Appearing for Balaji, senior advocate Kapil Sibal requested urgent hearing of the petition and told a bench headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud that the petitioner apprehended arrest after an umpire judge of Madras HC agreed with one of the judges of a division bench, which had returned a split verdict on the legality of his arrest on June 14, since when he has been admitted to a hospital.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said the ED also has filed an appeal against certain observations and rulings made by the umpire judge. He requested that the ED’s appeal too should be taken up along with Balaji’s petition.
Earlier, the ED had alleged that Balaji had feigned illness upon arrest to get wheeled into a hospital to avoid interrogation and pleaded exclusion of his hospitalisation days from the custody period.
Balaji, in his petition, challenged the ED’s powers under PMLA to effect arrest of a person and the powers to seek custody of that person. It said the ED did not have such powers as it is not conferred with powers available to the police under CrPC. It was alleged that during 2014-15, Balaji by abusing his official capacity, along with B Shanmugam, R V Ashok Kumar (brother of Balaji) and M Karthikeyan entered into a criminal conspiracy with the then managing directors of all STUs and officers of transport corporations to obtain illegal gratification from candidates to recruit them in transport corporations.