Prosecution witness fails to turn up, ED case against Minister Senthilbalaji adjourned

CHENNAI: The trial in the money laundering case that the ED booked against Minister V Senthilbalaji was stalled after the prosecution witness failed to appear, forcing the court to adjourn it to a later date.

The case that is being heard by the principal sessions court has reached the stage of cross-examining the prosecution witnesses. During the previous hearing on January 2, the court directed the prosecution to produce the working procedure manual of the Forensic Science department and also directed the ED to serve the cloned copies of digital evidence it had secured.

But when the matter was called on Monday, Manivannan, the assistant director of the Forensic Science Department who handled the evidence secured by the CCB, did not show up. The court then marked him absent for the cross-examination and posted the matter to January 27 for further proceedings.

This is the latest drama during the hearing. On August 22, 2024, while Senthilbalaji's advocate cross-examined Harish Kumar, chief manager of City Union Bank, Karur, he complained that the counsel was provoking him. Kumar was named as a witness to explain the transactions in the accounts of Senthilbalaji, his wife, and his brother.

Interestingly, Kumar did not appear for the cross-examination in the next hearing and the matter was postponed. Finally, his cross-examination concluded and the court ordered Manivannan to appear next for cross-examination.

In 2015, the central crime branch booked Senthilbalaji for his alleged involvement in a job racket case, accusing him of receiving money from several people. The CCB arrested him after some of the people who paid bribes but did not get the jobs as promised complained.

Later, the Directorate of Enforcement registered a money laundering case and arrested Senthilbalaji on June 14, 2023, and lodged him in prison.