Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has sought Governor R V Arlekar's sanction to allow the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute former minister V Senthilbalaji in the cash-for-jobs case, according to highly placed sources.
Sources indicated that the file was sent to Lok Bhavan early this week after Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay approved it. “Since he was a minister, the sanctioning authority is the governor. If he approves the file, a government order will be issued soon,” an official stated.
The ED has filed a prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court against Senthilbalaji, alleging money laundering linked to the cash-for-jobs scam in transport corporations during his tenure as a minister in the AIADMK regime between 2011 and 2016.
In May last year, the ED sought sanction from then Governor R N Ravi. Although the request was forwarded to the state government by Lok Bhavan, the government returned it in October, stating that the letter should have been sent directly to the state government and not routed through the governor. In a letter to Chief Secretary M Saikumar last month, the ED said the sanction process was being delayed because Senthilbalaji was a part of the previous DMK government.
Official sources confirmed that similar files seeking sanction to prosecute former ministers are also pending with Lok Bhavan. “Technically, as the appointing authority, the governor should give sanction. In the case of former CM J Jayalalithaa, the governor had given sanction,” an official explained.
The ED has submitted to the Chief Secretary a confidential note on the investigation and the prosecution complaint dated August 12, 2023, filed against Senthilbalaji before the special court (PMLA) in Chennai, along with documents on a pen drive.
The previous DMK government had argued that the state government’s sanction is needed to prosecute if the person was a minister at the time of commission of the alleged offence under PMLA, and the governor cannot decide the matter suo motu.
