'Resign or face jail': Supreme Court warns Tamil Nadu minister
24 Apr 2025

The Supreme Court of India has given a stark choice to Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji: quit as minister, or go to jail.

The ultimatum comes amid an ongoing money laundering probe related to a cash-for-jobs scam when Balaji was transport minister.

The court had initially granted him bail in September 2024 on the understanding that he was no longer a minister.

Balaji's ministerial return raises concerns
Bail conditions

But soon after, he returned to his ministerial duties, which caused concerns about possible witness influence.

Justice Abhay S Oka said, "We had granted bail on totally different grounds... If people are going to play with the process of law like this... we will record in our order that we made a mistake in ignoring the judgment findings against you."

Supreme Court to decide on Balaji's bail status
Future proceedings

Though the SC refused to revoke Balaji's bail on Wednesday, it has asked him to notify the court by April 28 if he is resigning from his ministerial post or wants to continue at the cost of his freedom.

"We will give you a choice: post or freedom," the court said.

The remarks came during proceedings on a plea seeking reconsideration of the bail order granted to Balaji on September 26, 2024.

ED supports plea to revoke Balaji's bail
ED's stance

The plea was filed by K Vidhya Kumar, who argued that Balaji's reinstatement as a Cabinet minister after securing bail could jeopardize the fairness of the trial.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which arrested Balaji in the first place on June 14, 2023, has backed his bail cancellation plea.

The agency contended that even when in jail, Balaji continued to exercise political power, and many witnesses in the case are public servants who used to report directly to him earlier.