Supreme Court raps Tamil Nadu govt in Senthil Balaji case: ‘You’ll need a cricket stadium for trial’

Raising concerns over the handling of the case, the Court asked how a trial of this size could proceed without a proper prosecutorial roadmap

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court reprimanded the Tamil Nadu government for naming over 2,000 individuals as accused in the cash-for-jobs corruption cases involving former minister V Senthil Balaji, and directed it to submit a list of all accused and witnesses.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a plea against a March 2024 order of the Madras High Court, which had dismissed objections to the clubbing of chargesheets. The Court was informed that about 2,300 people had been named as accused in the scam.

Raising concerns over the handling of the case, the Court asked how a trial of this size could proceed without a proper prosecutorial roadmap. Justice Bagchi observed that the prosecution appeared to lack direction.

“We want from you clearly and definitely what is your prosecutorial plan. It seems to be a very rudderless ship…With 200 witnesses summoned in a court hall, it will perhaps be one of the most populated trials in India.. You'll need a cricket stadium,” Justice Bagchi remarked, according to a report by Bar and Bench.

Meanwhile, Justice Kant noted that managing the attendance of all accused would be nearly impossible. “Almost impossible task will be to mark their presence. There will be 100s of AI-generated accused on that day,” he said.

On a prayer for appointment of a special public prosecutor, the bench told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the state, that when a powerful minister and affluent people are accused in a case, there is a perception that a lone public prosecutor will not be able to do justice, according to a PTI report.

The apex court had on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the Tamil Nadu government "attempting to delay" the trial in cases involving Balaji by implicating more than 2,000 people as accused in the alleged cash-for-jobs scam and described the attempt as a "complete fraud on the judicial system".

Balaji resigned from the M K Stalin-led state Cabinet on April 27 after being pulled up by the top court. The apex court asked Balaji on April 23 to make a choice "between post and freedom" as it warned him that his bail would be cancelled if he did not step down as a minister.

It took exception to the fact that Balaji was reinstated as a minister in the southern state, days after he obtained bail in a money-laundering case related to the alleged cash-for-jobs scam.

On September 26, 2024, the top court granted bail to Balaji in a case probed by the Enforcement Directorate.

With Balaji spending more than 15 months in jail, the top court had observed that there was no possibility that the trial would be concluded in the near future.

Balaji (48) was sworn-in as a minister on September 29 last year, and assigned the same key portfolios of electricity, non-conventional energy development, prohibition and excise that he had held previously in the Stalin Cabinet.

(With PTI inputs)