Senthil Balaji was sworn in as Minister by Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on September 29 and was assigned the same key portfolios — electricity, non-conventional energy development, prohibition and excise — he held previously in the Chief Minister M K Stalin cabinet.The ED arrested Balaji, representing Karur assembly constituency, on June 14, 2023, in the case, when he was the transport minister during the previous AIADMK regime between 2011 and 2015.On February 13, the TN Governor accepted Balaji’s resignation from the council of ministers.The top court reprieve on September 26, ended his 471-day incarceration.The Enforcement Directorate filed a case of money laundering in July 2021 to probe the allegations after three FIRs were registered by the Tamil Nadu police in 2018 and on the basis of complaints by those aggrieved of the alleged scam.The agency’s chargesheet claimed the entire recruitment process in the Tamil Nadu transport department during the tenure of Balaji as minister was turned into a “corrupt chiefdom”, and the scam was executed under his authority.Being a public servant, Balaji “misused” his official capacity as the then transport minister and obtained pecuniary benefits by corrupt and illegal means and directly acquired the proceeds of crime, generated out of a criminal activity related to a scheduled offence, the agency alleged.
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