New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Tamil Nadu Electrical energy Minister V. Senthilbalaji early Wednesday following hours of searches at his workplace within the state secretariat and bungalow in Chennai in a cash laundering case, stated media reviews.
Balaji was admitted to the hospital after he complained of chest ache.
Tuesday’s raids, which have been additionally held at places linked to the minister in Karur and Coimbatore, have been condemned by opposition events throughout the nation at the same time as Chief Minister M.Ok. Stalin alleged ‘misuse’ of energy by the Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP).
That is the primary time that the ED has entered a Secretariat, stated media reviews.
The event comes a month after the Supreme Court docket put aside a Madras Excessive Court docket order and allowed the ED to probe into the minister’s alleged position within the cash-for-jobs rip-off beneath the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA) throughout his tenure because the transport minister beneath the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) regime in 2014.
Balaji was accused of taking bribes from job aspirants for vacancies within the state transport division between 2014 and 2015.
The DMK got here out in assist of its minister and launched a scathing assault on the BJP. Calling it the “calm earlier than the storm of 2024”, CM Stalin put out a press launch Tuesday night, stating that “the backdoor ways of BJP towards its political opponents is not going to yield them desired outcomes.”
“The silence of the people who find themselves watching BJP’s low cost acts of vindictive politics shouldn’t be underestimated,” he added within the assertion he shared on Twitter.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge too issued an announcement condemning the ‘blatant misuse of ED’ and labelled it as ‘brazen makes an attempt of the Modi authorities at harassment and intimidation.’
“These ways is not going to reach silencing the Opposition,” the assertion read.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too known as the raids ‘unacceptable’. In a tweet condemning the act, she added that it was a ‘determined act by BJP’.
I condemn the political vendetta by BJP towards DMK @arivalayam right this moment. Misuse of central companies continues. ED raids in Tamil Nadu at workplace of Minister for Prohibition and Excise on the state secretariat and his official residence are unacceptable. Determined acts by BJP.
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) June 13, 2023
In the meantime, Aam Aadmi Occasion convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Blinded by political vendetta, the BJP is inflicting irreversible harm to our democracy.”
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‘Money-for-jobs’
Balaji joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 2018. The identical yr, based mostly on 4 complaints towards Balaji and some others, a First Data Report (FIR) was registered beneath Sections 406 (punishment for legal breach of belief), 420 (dishonest), and 506 (punishment for legal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The case was filed earlier than a particular court docket for members of parliament (MPs) and members of the legislative meeting (MLAs) — MP/MLA court docket — in 2019. The identical yr, Balaji was once more elected MLA on a DMK ticket.
In the meantime, the ED filed 4 circumstances within the alleged rip-off. Naming Balaji as one of many accused, the ED additionally issued summons towards the legislator.
Within the 2021 meeting election, he gained from Karur. That yr, he approached the Madras HC, requesting that the FIRs towards him be quashed. He stated he had reached a settlement with 13 of the job aspirants. The court docket quashed the continuing of the particular court docket. An attraction was, nonetheless, filed towards this.
In the meantime, the minister approached the Madras HC once more, difficult the ED summons. The court docket quashed the summons and put a keep order on the FIRs final yr. It was this ruling that the SC put aside 16 Might.
On 26 Might, the revenue tax division (I-T) carried out coordinated searches at Balaji’s residence and properties belonging to his brother, Ashok, and different kinfolk and contractors allegedly near him, ThePrint reported.
Days previous to the SC ruling within the cash-for-jobs case, about 22 folks had died within the state in two separate circumstances of hooch tragedy, prompting the BJP and the AIADMK to demand Balaji’s resignation from the ministry.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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