DMK MLA V Senthil Balaji
A single bench of the Madras High Court on July 8 granted anticipatory bail to DMK MLA V Senthil Balaji and his brother, RV Ashok Kumar, in a case registered over allegations of offering a Rs 35 crore bribe to a TVK MLA in an attempt to influence his vote for the Assembly Speaker. The court granted them pre-arrest bail with conditions.
TVK MLA Elaiyaraja, representing the Uthangarai (SC) constituency in Krishnagiri district, lodged a complaint at the Triplicane Police Station on June 29 alleging that he was contacted over the phone by a person named Thirunavukkarassu.
He told Elaiyaraja that a major political party would be moving a resolution against the Speaker in the Assembly and asked him to vote in their favour.
It was submitted that Elaiyaraja was offered Rs 35 crore for the same and was threatened with dire consequences if he did not act in a particular manner.
Based on the complaint, Chennai Police registered a case and, on July 1, arrested Thirunavukkarasu, Naresh and Thiyagarajan.
Police later arrested five more persons identified as Selvan, EM Srinivasan, Rajesh, Karthik and Ramesh.
It is learnt that Karthik and Ramesh had met Naresh, who is already behind bars, at star hotels on Chennai’s East Coast Road to discuss securing the support of TVK MLAs during a proposed no-confidence motion against the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker.
Based on their confession, police are on the lookout for former DMK Minister V Senthil Balaji and his brother V Ashok Kumar.
On learning of the police move, both went underground and have been evading arrest for the past week.
In the meantime, both approached the Madras High Court seeking pre-arrest bail. In his plea, Balaji argued that, even as per the FIR, he had not been named as an accused.
It was argued that he was dragged into the matter only by a later political extension of the FIR story and not by any fact found in the FIR itself.
His counsel argued that the arrested persons were being pressured to implicate Balaji and his brother by making allegations of corruption and horse-trading.
He added that the allegations of coercive investigation had also been brought to the notice of the Sessions Judge at the remand stage.
Thus, he argued that any custodial statement made by the accused could not be treated as a safe foundation for arrest unless supported by independent, objective and legally permissible evidence.
Public Prosecutor John Sathyan, appearing for the State, submitted that there was material to show that the accused persons had conspired by booking rooms in Chennai.
He said one of the accused persons had absconded to Singapore and had remotely deleted footage, which the prosecution is now trying to retrieve.
Senior Advocate P Kumaresan, counsel for Ashok Kumar, submitted that he was being implicated only because he is Balaji’s brother, adding that the police were attempting to develop the case.
Justice Ilanthiraiyan asked, “What’s your role? As per the FIR, there’s nothing.” Senthil Balaji’s counsel, NR Elango, replied that the prosecution had only one piece of material—that Balaji was in Erode on the same day as the prime accused.
After hearing both sides, the court granted anticipatory bail to Balaji and his brother Ashok Kumar with certain conditions. It directed the petitioners to appear before the investigating officer daily until further orders and cooperate with the investigation. The brother duo had failed to appear before the Triplicane Police on July 6.
The case also unfolds against the backdrop of the DMK accusing the TVK of indulging in “horse-trading” after six AIADMK MLAs resigned and joined the ruling party within weeks of the Assembly election results.
The DMK has alleged that the defections were part of the TVK’s bid to secure a majority of its own in the Assembly.
In another development, the Principal Sessions Court in Chennai permitted a two-day custodial interrogation of Naresh and four other arrested accused in the case. The court directed the Triplicane Police to produce them before the court again at 6 pm on July 10, 2026.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay is scheduled to meet the families of the 41 victims of the Karur stampede tragedy on July 10.
