Chennai , 08 July (H.S.):The Madras High Court on Wednesday granted conditional anticipatory bail to DMK MLA V. Senthil Balaji and his brother Ashok Kumar in connection with a case alleging an attempt to bribe a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA with ₹35 crore to influence his vote during the proposed no-confidence motion against the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker.

Justice P. Ilanthiraiyan directed both petitioners to appear before the investigating officer every day until further orders and cooperate fully with the investigation.

Appearing for Senthil Balaji, Senior Advocate N.R. Elango argued that the complaint was lodged two days after the alleged phone call and that the prosecution had no recording of the conversation, relying only on call detail records (CDRs). He contended that the allegations, including claims of an attempt to destabilise the government, were based on assumptions rather than concrete evidence.

During the hearing, the court observed that the FIR did not specifically attribute any role to Balaji. Elango submitted that the only circumstance relied upon by the prosecution was Balaji's presence in Erode on the same day as the prime accused. He further argued that the case was politically motivated and aimed at preventing the MLA from carrying out his political activities ahead of the Karur by-election.

Senior Advocate P. Kumaresan, appearing for Ashok Kumar, argued that his client had been implicated solely because he was Balaji's brother and that investigators had failed to produce substantive evidence linking him to the alleged conspiracy.

Opposing the bail pleas, Public Prosecutor John Sathyan told the court that investigators had gathered material indicating a conspiracy, including hotel room bookings in Chennai, suspected hawala transactions and fresh leads that emerged during inquiries in Bengaluru. He also alleged that one of the accused had fled to Singapore and remotely deleted CCTV footage, which investigators were attempting to retrieve.

The case arose from a complaint lodged by TVK MLA M. Elaiyaraja on June 26, alleging that he was offered ₹35 crore and threatened to support a move against the Assembly Speaker. Police subsequently arrested three persons and claimed that the alleged bribery attempt had been made at the behest of Senthil Balaji and Ashok Kumar. Both brothers have denied the allegations, maintaining that the case is politically motivated and unsupported by evidence.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman