Arrested TN minister Senthil Balaji files habeas corpus against ED arrest

Family members of V. Senthil Balaji, the Tamil Nadu minister who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on charges of money laundering charges, have moved to the Madras High Court to challenge the detention. Megala Senthil Balaji, the wife of the DMK politician, has filed a habeas corpus plea in court.

Senior Advocate NR Elango, representing the Senthil Balaji family, challenged the arrest and subsequent detention of the minister, arguing violations of constitutional rights and improper procedure. He termed the arrest ‘illegal’ and a violation of the minister’s fundamental rights.

Solicitor Gen fights back; says habeas plea invalid

Solicitor General, representing the Enforcement Directorate, argued before the two-person bench of Justice Nisha Banu and Justice Bharata Chakravarthy that the habeas plea is invalid since it was filed after the remand order.

Senior Advocate Elango, however, argued that the High Court has the discretionary powers to admit the plea after the order for remand, citing the Gautam Navlakha vs NIA case. “There is a distinction between order and a valid order. If someone comes and says there is a violation of fundamental rights, your honour has to look whether it is a valid order,” he said.

Balaji arrest ‘mala fide’ and malicious, claims counsel

NR Elango, arguing as part of the habeas plea, has argued that the arrest of his client violated Section 41 of the Code for Criminal Procedure (protection from arrests without warrants), and Article 22 of the Constitution (protection from arbitrary arrests).

The Advocate termed the actions of the Central agency as ‘mala fide’ as they proceeded to detain Senthil Balaji even though he cooperated fully with the investigation. He also tried to argue grounds of malice in the detention, but the Solicitor General objected, saying that it was not part of the original plea.

Habeas plea follows Human Rights Commission demand for report from ED

On Tuesday, the State Human Rights Commission, Tamil Nadu, sought a report from the ED, regarding accusations of human rights violations during the course of Senthil Balaji’s arrest. The SHRC gave a six weeks deadline to the Join Director of the agency to respond adequately.