Supreme Court to Hear Senthilbalaji's Bail Appeal

The Supreme Court will hear an urgent appeal on Friday from former Tamil Nadu minister V. Senthilbalaji, a day after the Madras High Court refused him pre-arrest bail in a corruption case registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on July 28 (The Hindu).

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Mukul Rohatgi and Amit Anand Tiwari mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Thursday, arguing that the first information report was based on allegations the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) had levelled in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court two years ago. Mr. Rohatgi submitted that the DVAC had “gleaned that a cognisable offence was made out owing to events that occurred between 2021 and 2025.” Mr. Tiwari noted that the ED case remains sub judice in the Supreme Court with its proceedings stayed, while Mr. Sibal warned of a risk that his client’s bail in that stayed matter could be cancelled because of the fresh FIR (The Hindu).

The FIR names Senthilbalaji—formerly Minister for Prohibition, Electricity and Excise and currently a sitting MLA—along with former TASMAC managing director S. Visakan, former senior regional managers T. Rama Durai Murugan and R. Panneerselvam, and others. It alleges that the accused, “by abusing their official position and with dishonest intention entered into criminal conspiracy during the year 2021 onwards with distillery companies, bottle companies, its owners and private individuals.” The agency contends they “laundered huge illicit money in TASMAC by various means of manipulation and favouritism in the decision-making processes of TASMAC in an organised manner by the nexus formed between the unauthorised power brokers backed by the political executives and senior-level officials of TASMAC, for deriving undue advantage and caused serious loss to the government exchequer” (The Hindu).

Earlier on Thursday, Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan dismissed the anticipatory bail petition, observing that the case involved charges of causing a loss of crores of rupees to the public exchequer and therefore required custodial interrogation. State Public Prosecutor R. John Sathyan opposed the plea, stating the loss appeared to be at least ₹100 crore and that the full extent of the crime could be unearthed only through investigation and interrogation of the accused (The Hindu).

The FIR details specific irregularities in the allotment of bar licences. It states that TASMAC operates 5,380 retail liquor shops and 3,240 bars across the state. In 2021, district managers in Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Erode, Namakkal and Karur districts allegedly violated tender rules for 857 bars so that licences could be issued to select individuals. The FIR notes that tenderers formed a syndicate and submitted Earnest Money Deposit demand drafts from the same bank with continuous serial numbers, indicating cartelisation. It further alleges that 284 of the 857 bars were officially closed but continued operating without licence renewal, resulting in revenue losses of ₹17.27 crore in Coimbatore North, ₹13.58 crore in Coimbatore South and ₹1.95 crore in the Nilgiris district during 2022-23 (The Hindu).

The Supreme Court’s decision to list the appeal for Friday sets up a rapid legal confrontation over whether the former minister will be shielded from arrest while the DVAC investigation proceeds.