New Delhi: The Supreme Court, while taking exception to DMK leader V Senthil Balaji being reinstated as a minister in the Tamil Nadu government soon after grant of bail in “cash-for-job” scam, on Wednesday (April 23) warned him of cancelling his bail if he did not step down from the post of minister and told him to choose between the post of minister and freedom.
A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih told Balaji to make a choice between the post of minister and freedom and tell the court by Monday.
You have to make a choice between post and freedom, apex court told Balaji
“There is grave apprehension that you (Balaji) will interfere and will influence witnesses. You have to make a choice between the post and freedom. What choice you want to make, you tell us,” the bench told the counsel representing Balaji.
Apex court was hearing pleas to recall Balaji’s bail
The apex court was hearing pleas seeking to recall bail granted to Balaji on the ground that he influenced witnesses in the case.
The bench referred to observations made in a previous judgment which recorded that he, as a minister, forced people to withdraw complaints against him and said that drastic findings are recorded against him in his capacity as a minister.
What signal are we sending when you hold office of minister, apex court asked
“Now, you have gone back to the same position where as a minister you will be able to influence. Bail was granted on totally different grounds. He (Balaji) had not been granted bail on merits. He had been granted bail on possible violation on Article 21 of the constitution. What signal are we sending when you hold office of minister?” the bench asked.
The top court further said that it will record in the order that it had made a mistake by ignoring the judgement against him and will accept its mistake.
“We will record it in the order that we have made a mistake by ignoring the judgements against you, because the entire hearing proceeded on the footing that he is no longer minister. We will accept our mistake,” the bench said.
Apex court expressed its concerns about politicians misusing liberal bail jurisprudence
The bench also expressed its concerns about politicians misusing the liberal bail jurisprudence developed by the court in money laundering cases.
“What troubles us is for the first time in case of PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), we have applied a law that if a case is not going to commence we will grant bail and this order is being followed consistently. When we read the order of the trial court and the high court, we were told that he is no longer minister. Therefore, we ignored the allegation based on the judgements on the ground that he is no longer minister. Now you bring about a change within few days of order granting bail and he is again the minister. This is not the way to deal with the court. After that don’t blame us that this court is not liberal in granting bail. You know how difficult it is to get bail in PMLA.” the bench said.
Apex court granted bail to Balaji in September last year
The apex court had on September 26 last year granted bail to Balaji in the cash-for-jobs-linked money laundering case after over 15 months in jail, noting that there was no possibility of completion of the trial in the near future. Balaji was sworn in as a cabinet minister in the Tamil Nadu government on September 29 last year following grant of bail by the apex court and his release from the jail.
