SC agrees to hear the plea in spite of HC's order allowing shift TN minister Senthil Balaji to a hospital

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear, on June 21, a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate against an order of the Madras High Court allowing the shifting of arrested Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji, who is under medical treatment at a city government hospital, to a private facility.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter before a vacation bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice M M Sundresh seeking urgent hearing.

Mehta told the bench that Balaji is an influential minister and the high court has allowed his transfer to a private hospital. The HC on June 15 allowed the shifting of the minister, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and since under medical treatment at a city government hospital, to a private facility.

The high court, which was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Balaji's wife, gave the interim order.

It also issued notice to the ED on the main plea of 'illegal' arrest of Balaji and posted the matter to June 22.

The high court had said Balaji would continue to remain in judicial custody and allowed the probe agency to have its own team of doctors to examine the minister.  The Tamil Nadu Electricity and Prohibition and Excise minister was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a cash for jobs scam against him when he was the transport minister in the earlier AIADMK cabinet led by late J Jayalalithaa.