Habeas corpus plea: Third judge to begin hearing on July 6 in Senthil Balaji case

Justice C V Karthikeyan will on Thursday begin hearing a Habeas corpus petition filed by the wife of Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji challenging his “illegal detention” by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) following his appointment as the third judge after a division bench delivered a split verdict.

Chief Justice of Madras High Court Justice S V Gangapurwala appointed justice Karthikeyan as the third judge on Wednesday morning, a day after a division bench of Justice J Nisha Banu and D Bharatha Chakravarthy delivered a split verdict. The Supreme Court had on Tuesday asked the Chief Justice to assign the third judge at the earliest.

The case has now been listed for Thursday afternoon.

Senthil Balaji, who is now a minister without portfolio in Chief Minister M K Stalin’s cabinet, was arrested by the ED on June 14 in a cash-for-job scam during his 2011-2015 tenure as Transport Minister in the then AIADMK cabinet led by J Jayalalithaa.

Also Read | Madras High Court delivers split verdict in Senthil Balaji case

However, Balaji complained of chest pain following which he was admitted to the Government Omandurar Hospital here. Days later, the minister underwent a by-pass heart surgery at a private hospital on the permission of the High Court and he is currently recuperating.

While justice Banu allowed the Habeas corpus petition filed by Balaji’s wife S Megala and ordered his immediate release, justice Chakravarthy disagreed with his senior judge and refused to admit the petition.

Allowing the Habeas corpus petition, justice Banu said the Enforcement Directorate is not entrusted with the powers to seek police custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and ruled that the “detenu is ordered to be set at liberty forthwith.”

However, justice Chakravarthy said there was no case made out to show that Balaji’s arrest by the ED was illegal. “Considering the fact that he (Balaji) has undergone surgery and he can continue to undergo the treatment (at the private hospital) for a period of another 10 days from today or until discharge whichever is earlier,” the judge said.

Megala had filed the petition before the court contending that her husband’s detention by the ED was “illegal” as the agency didn’t issue notice to Balaji to appear for questioning before his arrest.