Senior advocate Aryama Sundaram, appearing for Balaji, had earlier pleaded to the Supreme Court for interim bail on the ground that he was in custody of the probe agency, ED, for more than 335 days in the cash-for-jobs money laundering case.In one of the hearings, the ED, which is the probe agency in the case investigating the former Tamil Nadu minister Balaji’s alleged role in a money laundering case arising out of a job racket scam case, opposed his bail plea and said that he played a central and pivotal role in the case.”The accused (Senthil Balaji) played a central and pivotal role in the job racket scam during the period 2014-2015. He should not be granted bail by the top court,” the ED lawyer had told the apex court’s two-judge bench.The former TN minister was arrested on June 14 last year by the ED in connection with a money laundering case related to the cash-for-jobs scam when he was the Transport minister during an earlier AIADMK regime. The ED alleged that he is involved in corruption.The ED also filed a 1000-page chargesheet against Balaji last year in the case.On the other hand, Balaji vehemently claimed innocence in the case and said that the ED has not identified the proceeds of crime against him and its main evidence relies on information from the predicate offence.
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