The proceedings in a job scam against Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji and three others have been quashed by the Madras High Court. Counsel for the co-accused submitted this before an additional special court for the trial of cases related to Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assembly on Friday.
Police sources said this was one of the three criminal cases pending against Mr. Senthilbalaji, filed by the AIADMK government for his alleged involvement in job scams. Mr. Senthilbalaji was the Transport Minister in the AIADMK government from 2011 to 2015.
The case relates to a complaint filed by Arul Mani, who claims to be employed with the Metropolitan Transport Corporation, alleging that he gave ₹40 lakh, collected from various people, to Mr. Senthilbalaji’s associates at his house. The complainant said the money was collected on the assurance that the people would be employed in the Transport Corporation. The Minister and his associates failed to provide jobs as promised. The case was registered by the Central Crime Branch, Job Racket, in 2018, under various Sections of the IPC. The chargesheet was also filed, naming Mr. Balaji and three others — Ashok Kumar, Shanmugam and Raj Kumar alias Jayarajkumar.
The case was adjourned by the special court to Friday for serving copies of the chargesheet to the accused. When the matter came up for hearing, the counsel for three people, including Mr. Senthilbalaji, filed a petition seeking to dispense with personal appearances. Mr. Shanmugam was present.
Counsel for the accused filed a memo stating that the High Court had quashed the proceedings 10 days ago. The court then directed them to produce the order copy on August 19.
