Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will hear on June 21, a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the Madras High Court order that permitted shifting of Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji to a private hospital for heart surgery and restricting his interrogation in the hospital.
Urging the bench to list the plea, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for ED submitted before the vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant & MM Sundresh that the Madras HC allowed habeas corpus plea after ED arresting him.
SG Mehta contended that Balaji was an influential minister. The High Court could not have entertained a Habeas Corpus petition against a lawful arrest and a court remand order.
Aceeding to Mehta’s request, the bench said, “List it day after tomorrow.”
Madras High Court’s June 15 order was passed by a bench of Justices Nisha Banu and D Bharatha Chakravarthy while dealing with a plea filed by his wife who had sought for declaring Balaji’s arrest as “illegal.”
While allowing his transfer from from the Omandurar government hospital to private Kauvery hospital, the bench had said, “No question of enlarging him on bail. He shall continue to be in judicial custody. Since petitioner pleads he has a regular physician at private Kauvery hospital in the city, his prayer for shifting him there from the government hospital can be granted. In matters of health, getting treatment in a hospital of one’s choice can be allowed”.
The HC had also allowed ED to constitute its own panel of doctors to examine the minister and visit him in the private hospital to take stock of his health condition. The court had clarified that the duration of Balaji’s hospital stay would be excluded while calculating the ED’s plea for custodial interrogation.
Balaji was arrested on Wednesday after the ED initiated questioning in a case registered against him for offences allegedly committed by him during his tenure as the Transport Minister during the government of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazkhagam (AIADMK) from 2011-2015. Balaji is currently undergoing medical treatment at a private hospital in Chennai. He is technically under judicial custody.
ALSO READ: Despite being in thick of controversy, Senthil Balaji rose and rose until ED came knocking
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will hear on June 21, a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the Madras High Court order that permitted shifting of Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji to a private hospital for heart surgery and restricting his interrogation in the hospital.
Urging the bench to list the plea, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for ED submitted before the vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant & MM Sundresh that the Madras HC allowed habeas corpus plea after ED arresting him.
SG Mehta contended that Balaji was an influential minister. The High Court could not have entertained a Habeas Corpus petition against a lawful arrest and a court remand order. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Aceeding to Mehta’s request, the bench said, “List it day after tomorrow.”
Madras High Court’s June 15 order was passed by a bench of Justices Nisha Banu and D Bharatha Chakravarthy while dealing with a plea filed by his wife who had sought for declaring Balaji’s arrest as “illegal.”
While allowing his transfer from from the Omandurar government hospital to private Kauvery hospital, the bench had said, “No question of enlarging him on bail. He shall continue to be in judicial custody. Since petitioner pleads he has a regular physician at private Kauvery hospital in the city, his prayer for shifting him there from the government hospital can be granted. In matters of health, getting treatment in a hospital of one’s choice can be allowed”.
The HC had also allowed ED to constitute its own panel of doctors to examine the minister and visit him in the private hospital to take stock of his health condition. The court had clarified that the duration of Balaji’s hospital stay would be excluded while calculating the ED’s plea for custodial interrogation.
Balaji was arrested on Wednesday after the ED initiated questioning in a case registered against him for offences allegedly committed by him during his tenure as the Transport Minister during the government of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazkhagam (AIADMK) from 2011-2015. Balaji is currently undergoing medical treatment at a private hospital in Chennai. He is technically under judicial custody.
ALSO READ: Despite being in thick of controversy, Senthil Balaji rose and rose until ED came knocking
