Former Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji Walks Free After Supreme Court Grants Bail

Former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji was released from Puzhal Central Prison after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a money laundering case linked to a cash-for-jobs scam. Balaji, arrested in June 2022, had multiple bail petitions dismissed by lower courts before obtaining bail from the apex court.

V Senthil Balaji, a former Tamil Nadu minister, was released from Puzhal Central Prison on Thursday following a Supreme Court order granting him bail in a money laundering case associated with a cash-for-jobs scam.

Arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on June 14 last year, Balaji had been in judicial custody since then. Earlier bail pleas were dismissed by the Madras High Court on October 19, 2023, and February 28, 2023.

The local court and Chennai Sessions court also rejected his bail petitions in September 2022 and January 2023. The allegations date back to his tenure as Tamil Nadu's Transport Minister under the AIADMK regime. He joined DMK in December 2018 and served as the electricity minister after the party's 2021 victory.

(With inputs from agencies.)