The Special Court for MP/MLA extended the judicial custody of Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji till August 28 in connection with a money laundering case. The Minister, who was earlier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, is currently lodged at Puzhal Central prison. The Court also instructed the jail authorities to produce Balaji before the court on the said date.
According to ANI, "Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji's judicial custody extended till August 28, in the alleged money laundering case. Special Court for MP/MLA, Chennai instructs the jail authorities to produce Balaji on the said date for a physical hearing."
Special Judge Sivakumar, before whom Balaji was produced through video conferencing by the jail authorities, extended the minister's remand to judicial custody till Monday. The Court directed the jail authorities to produce Senthil Balaji physically before the court and the judge posted to August 28 for further hearing of the case, reported PTI.
The Enforcement Directorate had on August 7 taken custody of Balaji for five days after several rounds of litigation before the courts up to the level of Supreme Court. After the completion of the period, it had produced him before Principal Sessions Judge S Alli, who remanded him to judicial custody till August 25.
The ED had also filed a charge sheet running to about 3,000 pages before the PSJ on the same day.
On August 14, PSJ had taken the charge sheet on file and transferred the case to the Special Court for the trial of cases relating to MPs and MLAs, the report said.
On June 14, Balaji was arrested in connection with a money laundering case linked to a cash-for-jobs scam.