The Supreme Court on Wednesday warned Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji that if he did not resign from the Ministership, the bail granted to him in a money laundering case related to the ‘cash-for-jobs’ scam would be cancelled.
Taking strong objection to the fact that Balaji was sworn-in as a State Minister soon after getting bail, the top court of the country gave Balaji time till next Monday to decide on whether he wanted his Ministerial post or liberty.
The Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice AG Masih passed the order on a batch of petitions seeking to recall the bail granted to Balaji on the grounds that he was influencing the witnesses.
Referring to its previous judgment, which recorded that as a Minister, Balaji had forced people to withdraw the complaints, the Bench told Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Balaji, that the Minister was granted bail on the grounds of delay in trial and long incarceration, not on merits.
Representing the Directorate of Enforcement, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointed out that while seeking bail, Balaji had said that he had resigned as a Minister.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, also representing Balaji, said that the trial could be shifted out of the state, in case there was an apprehension of influence.
The Apex Court observed that it would not serve the purpose since there were 1000 witnesses.
Appearing for one of the witnesses alleging intimidation by Balaji, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said that the Minister could move out of the state.
Noting that his resignation as a Minister was cited as a ‘change in circumstances’ to plead for bail before the High Court, the Apex Court noted that soon after getting bail from this Court, Balaji took oath as a Minister.
It observed that if such a person was allowed bail, despite the categorical findings in the previous verdict about the role played by him in the predicate offence (under the Prevention of Corruption Act), what signals the Supreme Court would be sending.
Noting that this conduct would not be tolerated, the top court of the country said that it would record in its order that it has made a mistake by ignoring the judgments against Balaji. The entire hearing proceeded on the footing that Balaji was no longer a Minister. This Court would accept its mistake.
Asserting that there was no chance of Balaji influencing witnesses, Sibal said that if there was no witness coming in the box, how will Balaji influence them.
The Court observed that the Minister was preventing the witnesses from coming.
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