Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin Thursday slams the BJP over the arrest of his cabinet colleague V Senthil Balaji, while the state human rights commission said it will look into Balaji’s allegations of alleged ill-treatment at the hands of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) during his arrest.
Earlier, a local court, that sent Senthil Balaji to judicial custody till June 28, dismissed his plea against remand.
Meanwhile, the Madras High Court was hearing a habeas corpus plea seeking to produce Balaji in person, even as a local court heard submissions from Balaji’s side for interim bail and shifting to a private hospital. The ED sought his police custody.
Stalin alleged the saffron party’s leadership was engaged in “anti-people” politics and “wants to do its politics through the ED.”
In a video posted on his official Twitter handle, Stalin also slammed the ED for its handling of Electricity and Prohibition and Excise minister Balaji, which it had arrested, alleging the DMK leader was subject to “mental pressure,” and subsequently suffered a health issue.
“You all are aware of the unfair troubles being given to Senthil Balaji by the ED. None has any doubt that it is brazen political vendetta. Taking up a case that is 10 years old, he was confined and subjected to mental pressure. He was mentally and physically weakened and even suffered a life-threatening heart disease because of the ED. Can there be any more brazen political vendetta,” Stalin asked.
The CM said it is not wrong if Balaji was enquired based on some complaint or related court order but that he was no ordinary person who could abscond.
He is an elected MLA and a five-time legislator and is a minister for the second time. He attends a lot of public events, Stalin said.
“What is the need to enquire such person by confining him like a terrorist. When the ED officials came, he gave full cooperation and said he was ready to give whatever explanation sought by them. Despite this, he was confined for 18 hours, was not allowed to meet anyone. When his health got worse only then did they take him to hospital. If they had been ignorant then, it would have been a grave danger for his life,” the CM added.
“What is the emergency for such an enquiry? Is there an undeclared emergency in the country. Looks so, going by the ED’s activity. To put it simply, the BJP leadership wants to do its politics through the ED; its is not ready to do politics by meeting people. They are also not ready to trust BJP. People will believe it only if it does politics for them. BJP’s politics is anti-people,” he said attacking the saffron party.
Balaji was arrested on Wednesday by the ED in connection with a cash for jobs scam when he was Transport minister in the late Jayalalithaa-led cabinet. He has since been hospitalised after he complained of chest pain.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (TNSHRC) member V Kannadasan met Balaji in a hospital and said the latter had told him he was “treated badly” by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials who had arrested him June 14 in a cash for jobs scam.
“He said he was dragged and suffered an injury in his head,” Kannadasan said. However, only the doctors can confirm about the injuries said to have been suffered by Senthil Balaji.
The TNSHRC will look into the matter, he added.
Meanwhile, senior AIADMK leader and former MLA, IS Inbadurai, took exception to Kannadasan’s meeting with Balaji, saying he had in the past appeared in TV debates and spoken in favour of the DMK.
Speaking to reporters here, he claimed the report that Kannadasan would file on the matter will be “fake.”
Saying that Kannadasan’s appointment itself was “wrong,” he said “we will separately question that.”
Kannadasan’s possible report is like “one judging one’s own case,” Inbadurai, an advocate, said.
He, however, said he was not opposed to the TNSHRC intervening in the matter.
PTI