V Senthil Balaji.
Credit: PTI photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rapped the Tamil Nadu government for attempting to delay the trial in cases involving former state minister V Senthil Balaji by implicating more than 2,000 people as accused in a cash-for-jobs scam, saying it is a complete fraud on the judicial system.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi ordered for listing all matters pending before the top court involving Balaji for hearing on Wednesday.
"We would like to know that besides the minister, who were the alleged brokers or middlemen? Who were the officers who acted on the recommendations of the minister? Who were the members of the selection committee? Who were the authorities who gave the appointment," the bench asked senior advocates A M Singhvi and Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government.
The court was hearing a plea by Balaji against the Madras High Court's March 28 order rejecting his petition against clubbing several supplementary charge sheets in the case involving the ex-Minister.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioner, claimed the state colluded with the accused, its own Minister.
Taking a serious view, the bench asked the state counsel, "Poor persons who were coerced by your Minister or by his henchmen to pay something Rs 5000, 10000, 1 lakh, 2 lakh, you are more keen to prosecute them so that in the entire lifetime of the Minister, trial never comes to an end? That is your modus operandi? It is completely fraud on the system. You are implicating these so-called bribe givers, somebody trying to get his son employed, gave Rs 1 lakh, 2 lakh, you're making everyone an accused...2000 accused in 2 cases?".
The state counsel alleged that the petitioner was indulging in forum shopping and this court did not entertain another plea by the same petitioner.
Between 2011 and 2016, Senthil Balaji was holding the post of Transport Minister in the Government of Tamil Nadu.
It was alleged that while discharging his duties as a minister, in connivance with his personal assistant and his brother, he collected large amounts by promising job opportunities to several person in various positions in the Transport Department.
He was arrested on June 14, 2023 in cases, arising out of cash for jobs scam.
The apex court granted bail to him on September 26, 2024.