TN Urges Governor to Sanction Prosecution of Senthilbalaji and Radhakrishnan

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday urged Governor RV Arlekar at Lok Bhavan in Chennai to clear pending files seeking sanction to prosecute former ministers V Senthilbalaji and Anitha S Radhakrishnan. The clearance will allow the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to obtain the mandatory prior sanction required to prosecute the former public servants under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Electricity minister R Nirmalkumar conveyed the request to the governor during a meeting at Lok Bhavan on Monday. A senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, stated that the minister urged the governor to clear the pending files at the earliest.

The state government sent the letters seeking the prosecution sanction in the first week of this month, following a formal request from the ED. The central agency had previously made unsuccessful attempts to obtain prosecution sanction during the previous DMK regime.

According to an ED official, a chargesheet has already been filed against Senthilbalaji. The agency is currently awaiting sanction to proceed further, as Section 197 of the CrPC, which is now Section 217 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), requires prior sanction when a public servant is accused of committing an offence while discharging official duties.

The ED has alleged that an investigation under the PMLA revealed Senthilbalaji orchestrated a cash-for-jobs scam during his tenure as the AIADMK's transport minister. He allegedly acted in collusion with his brother RV Ashok Kumar and personal assistants to solicit illegal gratification from candidates seeking appointments in state transport undertakings.

Meanwhile, the agency initiated proceedings against Radhakrishnan based on a First Information Report registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). The case accuses him of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

In its letter to the state government last month, the ED invoked Section 218 of the BNSS. This provision requires prosecution sanction to be granted within 120 days of receiving a request, otherwise it is deemed to have been granted.

Following the meetings on Monday, Governor RV Arlekar left for Bengaluru on Monday night. Earlier, state assembly speaker J C D Prabhakar and Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan also visited the governor at Lok Bhavan.