Supreme Court: In an application seeking the clubbing of multiple chargesheets filed in the cash-for-jobs scam under the Prevention of Corruption Act, relating to former Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthil Balaji, a Division Bench of Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, JJ. issued notice on plea to club chargesheets in Senthil Balaji cash-for-jobs case and directed the State of Tamil Nadu to file its response, particularly on the maintainability of the petition.
Between 2011 and 2016, V. Senthil Balaji served as the transport minister in the Government of Tamil Nadu. During his tenure, he allegedly conspired with his personal assistants and brother to collect money from job aspirants by falsely promising appointments in various posts within the Transport Department.
Multiple candidates who had paid the bribes but failed to secure employment later filed complaints, leading to a criminal investigation. The Central Crime Branch (CCB), Chennai filed three final reports, each naming Senthil Balaji as an accused. Subsequently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched a separate investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Following this, Senthil Balaji was arrested on 14-06-2023 and remanded to judicial custody.
While he filed multiple bail applications, they were rejected by the lower courts. Eventually, the Supreme Court granted him bail, subject to conditions.
The Madras High Court, on 28-03-2025, dismissed petitions opposing the clubbing of chargesheets, ruling that the cases stemmed from the same transaction and involved overlapping witnesses and documents. It held that separate trials would only serve to delay proceedings.
In a hearing on 09-04-2025, the Supreme Court expressed disapproval over Senthil Balaji’s reinstatement as Minister post-release and directed him to choose between his post and personal liberty, resulting in his resignation on 27-04-2025.
The application against the Supreme Court judgment dated 16-05-2023 in Y. Balaji v. Karthik Desari, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 645. will be next taken up on 08-12-2025.
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[Y Balaji v Assistant Commissioner of Police, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 2178, decided on 06-10-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For Petitioner(s): Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv., Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR, Mr. Vishwaditya Sharma, Adv., Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv., Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, Adv., Ms. Neha Rathi, AOR, Mr. Abhay Nair, Adv., Mr. Shourya Dasgupta, Adv., Ms. Shreya Nair, Adv.
For Respondent(s): Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv., Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari, Sr. A.A.G., Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR, Ms. Devyani Gupta, Adv., Mr. Siddharth Seem, Adv., Mr. Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Adv., Mr. Veshal Tyagi, Adv., Ms. Arpitha Anna Mathew, Adv., Ms. Jahnavi Taneja, Adv., Ms. Saushria Havelia, Adv., Mr. Pranjal Mishra, Adv., Mr. K.s.badhrinathan, Adv., Mr. Danish Saifi, Adv., Mr. Mayank Pandey, AOR, Mr. Ashish Kumar Pandey, Adv., Mr. Arun, Adv., Mr. Shivraj Singh Tomar, Adv., Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, AOR, Mr. Abhay Nair, Adv., Mr. P Rohit Ram, Adv., Mr. Sanyam Jain, Adv., Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, Adv., Ms. Neha Rathi, AOR, Ms. Kajal Giri, Adv., Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv., Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Adv., Mr. D S Naidu, Sr. Adv., Ms. Rukhmini Bobde, Adv., Mr. Aravind, Adv., Mr. Amlaan Kumar, Adv., Mr. Vinayak Aren, Adv., Mr. Vishal Prasad, AOR