Arrested Minister undergoes surgery: Arrested Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji on Wednesday (June 21) was hemodynamically stable after he underwent a bypass surgery in Chennai, the private hospital where he is admitted said.
Bringing relief to the DMK leader, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the Madras High Court order which allowed him to be shifted to a private hospital.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested the Minister in an alleged cash-for-jobs scam case in the transport department. The agency had moved the top cout against the High Court order.
This came after the High Court allowed the Minister to be shifted from a government super speciality hospital to a private hospital, where the bypass surgery was performed on Wednesday. He was initially admitted to a government hospital following his arrest, after which he complained of chest pain. He was later shifted to a private hospital after a court order. The high court passed an interim order after Balaji's wife filed a habeas corpus petition alleging illegal arrest.
“The minister underwent Beating Heart Coronary Artery Bypass surgery on Wednesday morning,” a medical bulletin issued by Kauvery Hospital said.
"Four bypass grafts were placed and coronary revascularization was established," the bulletin from Dr Aravindan Selvaraj, co-founder and executive director, Kauvery Group of Hospitals, said.
It further added that the Minister is currently hemodynamically stable and is being monitored in the postoperative ICU.
Supreme Court refuses to stay High Court order
A vacation bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice M M Sundresh said that the petition was pending in the High Court and asked the ED to approach the lower court.
"The observations made by the high court was in an interim order and any oral observation made by this court shall have no bearing on the case," the bench said while posting the matter for hearing on July 4.
Appearing for the ED, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the lower court’s order set a wrong precedent.
Balaji was arrested on June 14 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in an alleged cash-for-jobs scam. The scam is set to have allegedly taken place when he handled the transport department in the J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK government. He is now Minister without Portfolio, after those handled by him were re-allocated to his cabinet colleagues Thangam Thennarasu and S Muthusamy.
Opposition stages protest
The main opposition party AIADMK held a state-wide protest against the MK Stalin government which backed the arrested minister and sought Balaji’s expulsion from the cabinet.
Senior leaders and former ministers including D Jayakumar, S P Velumani, Sellur Raju, C Ve Shanmugam and P Thangamani among others led the agitations held in cities including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Villupuram, Namakkal, Salem and Ramanathapuram
(With PTI inputs)
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