Last Updated on 25/07/2024 by Ankita Jain
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, while hearing the bail plea of former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji, asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to show the pen drive recovered from Balaji’s residence, which allegedly contains evidence against him. The central probe agency had arrested Senthil Balaji in June 2023 in the cash for job case, In its prosecution complaint, equivalent to a chargesheet, the investigating agency has relied on a file named ‘CSAC.xlsx’, which, according to the agency, contains evidence of Balaji receiving Rs 67 crore.
Supreme Court questions ED on evidence against Senthil Balaji The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Enforcement Directorate about the evidence on which the investigating agency is claiming that Senthil Balaji has committed the offence of money laundering in the Cash for Jobs case. A bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka asked the agency’s lawyers to give a “simple answer” to their “simple question” as to where did the agency recover the soft file, which they claim implicates Balaji and contains evidence of crime proceeds of Rs 67 crore.
Justice Oka said, “We want simple answers to simple questions.” Justice Oka said there must be some evidence to show that the file relied upon by the ED was part of the pen drive and the said fact is corroborated by the FSL report. Hearing Senthil Balaji’s bail plea, the court initially sought a response from the ED on Balaji’s claims that the said file was not part of the seized pen-drive.
The court said, ‘Our question is very simple. Where was that document found? It is an electronic file, in which device was it found seized? The court said, you are relying on a soft file. SG Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, said that the petitioner’s lawyer is trying to simplify the situation and the court will have to see the background of the case.
‘This is not a one-line answer,’ SG said. ED counsel Advocate Zoheb Hussain informed the court that the soft file was not part of the material seized by the ED but was seized by the local police in the commission of an offence. The court again reiterated its question and said the file on which the relief is being granted is a soft file which cannot be physically seized. Hussain told the court that the pen drive was found at Balaji’s premises which contained several excel sheets. He said the ED had applied to the court and obtained a copy.
The court also said that the agency has to show whether the pen drive was sent to FSL, and whether there is any report stating that the said file was part of the pen drive.