The court has extended Senthilbalaji’s judicial custody until tomorrow (February 16).
The Principal Sessions Court in Chennai has dismissed the plea of jailed DMK leader V. Senthilbalaji, which sought to stay the framing of charges and trial in his Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case. Principal Sessions Judge S. Alli noted that the petition lacked merit and appeared to be an attempt to delay proceedings.
In the judgment, the court referenced the Supreme Court’s directives to expedite trials involving MPs and MLAs, emphasizing that adjournments should only occur for rare and compelling reasons. Thus, the court decided to proceed with the framing of charges.
Senthilbalaji’s deferred petition argued that the PMLA charges should be postponed until the case filed by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) regarding alleged bribery for government jobs in the transport department was resolved. His counsel, S. Prabhakaran, contended that if Senthilbalaji were discharged from the CCB case, it would render the PMLA case moot, as there would be no proceeds of crime.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) countered that Senthilbalaji’s actions aimed to stall the trial, constituting a gross abuse of legal process. The court has extended Senthilbalaji’s judicial custody until tomorrow (February 16), and he is expected to appear in person.
Senthilbalaji has been incarcerated since June 14 of last year related to the ED’s PMLA investigation. He recently resigned from his ministerial position and has since renewed his bail plea, asserting that the digital evidence against him was tampered with. Meanwhile, the ED has requested a swift trial instead of granting bail during the ongoing proceedings.