SC directs Madras HC to place Senthil Balaji’s Habeas Corpus plea before larger bench at earliest

The Supreme Court of India requested the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to form a three-judge bench to decide the habeas corpus plea filed by the wife of arrested minister V Senthil Balaji. On Tuesday morning, the Madras High Court passed a split judgement on the habeas corpus plea filed by Megala Senthil […]

Sushruta Bhattacharjee Last Updated : 04 July 2023, 04:05 PM IST

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The Supreme Court of India requested the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to form a three-judge bench to decide the habeas corpus plea filed by the wife of arrested minister V Senthil Balaji.

On Tuesday morning, the Madras High Court passed a split judgement on the habeas corpus plea filed by Megala Senthil Balaji against the Enforcement Directorate’s arrest of her husband on June 14.

The ED moved to the Supreme Court, challenging that the Madras High Court erred by even entertaining the habeas corpus plea in the first place.

A division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta refused to heed the ED’s request until the Madras High Court decided on the habeas corpus plea.

In that regard, the apex court requested Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala, the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, to form a larger three-judge bench and decide on the case at the earliest.

“We request the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to place the matter before a larger bench at the earliest and further request to the assigned bench to decide the case as early as possible. The pendency of the special leave petition will have no bearing on proceedings before the high court,” Justice Kant pronounced.

Solicitor General asks Supreme Court to decide Senthil Balaji case

Tushar Gupta, the Solicitor General of India who was representing the ED, requested the Supreme Court to decide the habeas corpus plea instead of referring the case to a larger bench of the High Court.

“Ultimately, there are questions of law that will have to be decided by this court – whether a habeas corpus petition would lie after a judicial order of remand is intervened, and whether the period that the accused spends in a hospital on medical grounds can be excluded from the calculation of the prescribed 15 days that he may be kept in custody. Please hear the matter and decide it, rather than it going to a three-judge bench of the high court,” the Solicitor General said.

“Every day that the respondent remains in the hospital, there would be tampering of evidence. In these kind of situations where an influential person is the accused, the damage is irreversible.”

However, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing V Senthil Balaji, argued that the High Court cannot be bypassed in the case of a split judgement. “How can the high court be bypassed like this? There is a split verdict and the matter has to go to a third judge, since this court had said that it would wait for the high court to decide it first. Under what circumstances can you bring it to this court now?” he said.

The case will be heard again by the Supreme Court on July 24.

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