Tamil Nadu: CM Stalin's Close Confidant Senthil Balaji In ED Crosshairs As Supreme Court Paves Way For Probe Into Cash-for-Jobs Scam

In a big setback to the Tamil Nadu Electricity and Excise Minister Senthil Balaji, a close confidant of Chief Minister MK Stalin, the Supreme Court today (May 16) quashed an order by the Madras High Court staying the proceedings in the money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a recruitment scam.

The cash-for-jobs scams pertains to his tenure as Transport minister between 2011 and 2014 in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government led by late CM J Jayalalithaa.

The Supreme Court also allowed a batch of appeals against an order of the Madras High Court ordering a fresh enquiry into the recruitment scam.

A Bench of Justices Krishna Murari and V Ramasubramanian set aside a Madras High Court order of October 31 last year, directing de novo or fresh investigation against the Minister.

In a baffling judicial order that faced severe criticism from a section of the public and the opposition parties, the Madras HC had earlier quashed the proceeding against Balaji on the grounds that the complainant and 13 victims of the recruitment scam had arrived at a settlement and have been repaid the money owed.

Cash-for-Jobs Scam

During his tenure as the Transport minister in the AIADMK government, Balaji is alleged to have entered into a criminal conspiracy with then managing directors of all State Transport Undertakings (STUs) and other officers of transport corporations to secure illegal gratification from candidates to recruit them as driver, conductor, junior tradesman, junior assistant, junior engineer and assistant engineer in the transport corporations.

According to the chargesheet filed by Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Tamil Nadu police, Balaji is said to have colluded with his close associates, B. Shanmugam and M. Karthikeyan alias Karthik, and collected data from all State Transport Corporations through managing directors and officers of the personnel section to collate complete data of the candidates.

The investigation by the police revealed that Balaji received illegal gratification from the candidates and sent lists to the managing directors, appointing authority and personnel section officers of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation to issue appointment orders for the candidates mentioned in the said list.

At least 33 candidates were appointed for the post of junior engineer, in accordance with the list illegally furnished by Balaji.

The modus operandi of the scam engineered by Balaji includes altering the original interview marks of candidates in the registers, the police chargesheet alleged. The recruitment registers containing details of candidates, maintained in the personnel section, were tampered with and forged. Interview marks were fraudulently reduced for meritorious candidates.

Investigation into the scam was based on a complaint case filed by an individual working as a technical staff in the Metro Transport Corporation who came in contact with Rajkumar, said to be a close aide of Balaji. During that period, vacancy had arisen in the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation for Driver/Conductor etc. Rajkumar informed the complainant that employment can be obtained if money is paid.

The complainant managed to mobilise the amount of Rs. 40 lakh from several people and paid the amount to Shanmugam, who was the official PA of Senthil Balaji in his presence. Despite Balaji assuring him of posting, the complainant's name was missing from the selection list. (In this period, Balaji was ousted from the ministry after reportedly falling out of favour for a brief while with an influential family member of Sasikala family).

When the complainant approached Rajkumar to repay the amount, two cheques of Rs. 15 lakh were given to him, which were dishonoured. He was also threatened for following up on the money.

At least 14 victims were cited as witnesses who were also defrauded similarly to the tune of Rs. 40 lakh on the promise to secure jobs as driver or conductors.

Charges were filed against the minister and his associates under Sections 465 (Punishment for forgery), 468 (Forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (dishonestly uses forged as genuine) and 420 (Cheating) of IPC r/w 120 (B) (Criminal Conspiracy) of the IPC and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Latest Ruling By SC Will Present A Huge Challenge To Balaji

Ever since he joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Balaji has seen his political fortunes soaring, even ruffling the weathers of veteran party functionaries and senior ministers.

Balaji was elected to the state assembly in the 2021 assembly election from the Karur constituency. In a move that even shocked DMK insiders, Balaji landed two crucial portfolios in the Chief Minister MK Stalin's cabinet.

In the run up to the 2016 state election,Stalin, who was then the leader of opposition, made grave allegations against Balaji during the campaign trial. Stalin charged Balaji with indulging in corruption, kidnapping, extortion and collecting funds for a member of the Sasikala family with whom Balaji is said to have enjoyed a close relationship. However after switching allegiance to DMK, the resourceful Balaji found his way to the inner coterie of Stalin and his family. His rise in DMK was seen as a reward for his closeness to DMK's first family.

Within months of the DMK government assuming office, Balaji began to face charges of indulging in large-scale corruption in signing energy deals. He also faced criticism for his inept handling of the power shortage in the state.

Balaji, who spearheaded the party’s campaign in Erode East bypoll, was also accused of orchestrating massive cash distribution to ensure the victory of Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan.

Many political observers in the state criticised the unprecedented scale of cash distribution in the run-up to Erode East bypoll with ruling DMK and Balaji in particular facing charges of indulging in multiple rounds of cash distribution and confining voters in halls to secure them from opposition allurement. Balaji's stock went up further after the ruling alliance candidate won a landslide victory in the bypoll.

Balaji also was in the eye of the storm after bar owners and TASMAC workers protested outside his house alleging irregularities in awarding tenders to run bars attached to TASMAC. Many bar owners from Thoothukudi alleged that some people had been using the name of Prohibition and Excise Department Minister V Senthil Balaji for demanding the mamool, ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 per month based on the sales, from each of the TASMAC bars.

Balaji's Rise And Fall In AIADMK

The rise of Balaji is also attributed to his skills as a powerful political organiser in the western districts of Tamil Nadu. His political graph witnessed a meteoric rise, which local observers attributed to his enormous monetary power.

During his tenure in the AIADMK ministry between 2011 and 2014, Balaji, who then enjoyed proximity to Jayalalithaa and Sasikala, wielded enormous influence. Several allegations of corruption rocked his tenure as Transport minister. Balaji was however ousted from the ministry in 2015 after he fell out of favour with a relative of Sasikala and other key figures in the Poes Garden power apparatus.

During the 2016 state assembly elections, Balaji was shifted out of his traditional Karur seat and forced to contest from the neighbouring Aravakurichi constituency. The Election Commission countermanded the election to the Aravakurichi seat over brazen misuse of money power by Balaji and his DMK opponent, who was also a powerful local businessman.

After the demise of Jayalalithaa, Balaji was a part of the AIADMK faction led by TTV Dhinakaran before joining the DMK in the 2019 elections.

Despite SC restoring the criminal complaint against him, Balaji will likely brazen out, knowing fully well that he enjoys the unbridled support of the DMK first family and his criticality to DMK's plans of making inroads in the traditionally weak areas of western Tamil Nadu.