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The Madras High Court dismissed on Wednesday the bail petition of former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji in a money laundering case registered by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).
The judge of Madras High Court Justice, Justice N Anand Venkatesh, dismissed the bail plea of Balaji, who has been in prison for eight months. The Principal Sessions Court has been directed to complete the hearing within three months. The Principal Sessions Judge declined to grant the relief, stating that "there is no change in the circumstances." Balaji was arrested by the ED on June 14 last year and has been in judicial custody since then. Madras High Court had on October 19, 2023, dismissed Balaji's earlier bail plea. On September 20 last year, a local court dismissed his bail petition. On January 12 this year, the Chennai Sessions court again dismissed his bail petition. Balaji was arrested on June 14 in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged cash-for-jobs scam when he was the TN Transport Minister during the earlier AIADMK regime. The Enforcement Case Information Register (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. (ANI)
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