Tamil Nadu Assembly’s Opposition leader and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) demanded the resignation of Minister Senthil Balaji from the cabinet. Rejecting the allegations of human rights violation during the arrest of Senthil Balaji, EPS said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) acts as per the direction from the Supreme Court. Senthil, who is the Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise was arrested in connection with a cash-for-job scam in the early hours of Wednesday, June 14.
Addressing a press meet in Chennai, EPS said that the ED merely did its duty. “The investigation against Senthil Balaji started four years ago. It is not like the case against him was filed today or in the recent past. The Supreme Court ordered the ED to take action and investigate him within 60 days,” EPS noted. “The court also said that if the ED failed to do so, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) would be formed to investigate the matter. Based on this order, ED officials conducted the searches in the places owned by Senthil Balaji, his relatives, and his friends and arrested him”, EPS said, adding, “I also wanted to tell you that the process has been delayed because this issue was brought to High Court and Supreme Court.”
During the press meet, EPS highlighted the comments of Chief Minister MK Stalin made during his term as Opposition leader over the Income Tax Department’s search at the Secretariat in 2016. “That time, the same Stalin who is complaining about the arrest of Senthil Balaji now had said that despite being under the control of the Union government, the I-T department has its own set of rules. He said that it conducts searches because the agency strongly believes that there was some evidence pertaining to the case. The current searches in places linked to Senthil Balaji undertaken by the ED too must be on the basis of evidence,” he said.
“In 2016, Stalin called the I-T searches at the Secretariat an insult to the state. But today, the searches at the Minister’s chamber are the real insult to Tamil Nadu,” EPS said. He also condemned the attack against the income tax officer who was deployed to search premises linked to Senthil Balaji. “Such a scenario has never happened anywhere in the country,” he stated.
EPS also asked why Senthil Balaji cannot cooperate with the officials, as he had said during a press meet on June 14. “Why is he [Senthil Balaji] creating such a drama instead of responding to the questions by the officials?” EPS asked, rejecting the claims of human rights violation during the arrest. He demanded the Minister’s resignation on moral grounds.