After that, Central Government Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of the Enforcement Department and presented arguments. Then he said, “Since the Sessions Court has issued an order to keep Senthil Balaji in judicial custody, it is proved that there is no illegal detention. No case was filed against the court’s remand order. “Therefore, a recruitment case cannot be filed against the arrest,” he began. It is not acceptable to deposit,” he argued.
He continued, “On June 14th at 1:39 am, a petition seeking judicial custody was filed by the enforcement department within 24 hours. Under the Unlawful Money Transfer Act, arrests can be made if there is evidence. Reasons may be given after arrest. Therefore, the law does not require a reason to be given at the time of arrest. Senthil Balaji was arrested on the basis of evidence that he had received money for getting a job in the transport sector. The Sessions Court was informed about this within 10 hours of the arrest.
Reasons for arrest were also given. But Senthil Balaji refused to accept it. There is evidence that the relatives were informed about the arrest and that Senthil Balaji refused to receive the document stating the reasons for the arrest. They were filed in the Principal Sessions Court,” he said
Further, “Senthil Balaji got legal aid during his arrest. After hearing the arguments of both the parties, the Sessions Court allowed the remand for eight days. Therefore, it is wrong to say that the court issued the order mechanically,” he objected. Then the judges interrupted and said, “When we passed the interim order regarding the transfer of the hospital, why did we not ask for remand for investigation?” They questioned. Responding to that, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “You can ask for custody only in the court where you were arrested and produced. So we asked the Chennai Principal Sessions Court. Our request was accepted and police custody was granted for eight days.
However, it could not be investigated following the conditions set by the court. Because of this, the Enforcement Directorate approached the Supreme Court. The petitioner’s contention that the said action was an act of contempt of the High Court cannot be accepted. The Supreme Court and various High Courts have held that recruitment petitions are not fit for trial where judicial custody has been ordered. This confirms that the arrest of Senthil Balaji was legal. As Senthil Balaji is in the hospital, due to the conditions ordered by the Sessions Court that the investigation should be conducted only on the advice of the doctors, even when the officials went to the hospital, the investigation could not be conducted. They only had tea and coffee. A bail application was filed on behalf of Senthil Balaji as all the procedures to be followed during the arrest were followed. It is hereby confirmed that he has accepted the order of court custody.
While a case has been registered regarding the corruption in the ADMK regime, the Supreme Court has said that the arrest of Senthil Balaji, who is currently a minister in the DMK, cannot be said to be a political revenge. During the remand period, Senthil Balaji could not be interrogated as he was hospitalized. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asserted in his argument that if he is not remanded in custody within 15 days, he cannot be taken after that, the period of treatment in the hospital should not be treated as the period of judicial custody.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta concluded his argument by saying that the Supreme Court had allowed the Enforcement Directorate to conduct custodial investigations in the Anti-Money Laundering Act case.
