ED: In the case of TN former minister Senthil Balaji, there was no evidence tampering

The enforcement directorate refuted on Thursday the accusations made by former minister V Senthil Balaji, claiming that the state police provided all of the material that had been tampered with.

The pen drive was taken by the state government’s Central Crime Branch, therefore there is no indication that the ED tampered with any digital data. The state conducted forensic testing. The governmental agency submitted the digital proof to the court. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) AR L Sundaresan informed the court that ED has received certified copies from the court.

The presentation was delivered in front of Justice N Anand Venkatesh during Senthil Balaji’s bail motion hearing.

As he explained the origins of the creation of criminal proceeds, he brought up the cash-for-job scandal that occurred in the transportation department during Balaji’s tenure as minister of transportation. He oversaw the identification of the number of positions, the fixing of the rates for each post, and the collection of funds. There were 2,916 postings overall, and <67.75 crore was collected.

The court postponed the case till Monday in order for senior counsel C Aryama Sundaram to provide his response to the ED’s arguments after the ASG’s submission.

Balaji attempted to postpone the money laundering case trial until the CCB concluded its investigation into the predicate offence case, but Judge S Alli of the Principal Sessions and Special Court for PMLA Cases denied his request.

“May I submit a medical report along with my voting papers?”

Chennai: The Madras High Court’s first bench requested an answer from the ECI about whether or not candidates for the polls might be required to submit their medical reports with their nomination papers. The justification was requested in a petition asking the ECI to mandate that medical reports be included with the applicants’ declaration of assets and criminal charges.