Amidst the ongoing drama surrounding the arrest of Prohibition and Excise Minister of Tamil Nadu, Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directirate (ED) in connection with the transport job scam, a Facebook post made in 2016 from Karunanidhi’s official account is doing the rounds on social media.
The post mentioned the High Court’s order on the cash-for-jobs scam in which Senthil Balaji has been accused and is now arrested. Karunanidhi in the Facebook post goes on to mention that Senthil Balaji has been accused of collecting a sum of ₹4.25 crores through his assistant from numerous individuals, promising them employment opportunities in the transport corporation. However, the jobs were not provided, and the money was not returned.
“Question – In the case pertaining to former Minister Senthil Balaji who has been accused of fraud by promising government jobs for money, the Madras High Court has said that there is no bar on him in contesting election?”, reads the question.
Karunanidhi’s reply goes thus: “Even though the court has not barred him from contesting election, the High Court has directed the police to file an affidavit regarding the status of the case pertaining to the fraud case on Senthil Balaji by coming 7th of the month. According to the details of the case, it is alleged that ₹4.25 crore was given to the minister through his assistant, which the latter had collected from many people to place them in various jobs including drivers and conductors in the transport corporation. But the neither got the job nor their money was returned. The same complaint is there on many ministers. But now a complaint has reached the High Court.”
மலரும் நினைவுகள் pic.twitter.com/vm4dURijI8
— Krishna Kumar Murugan (@ikkmurugan) June 14, 2023
Senthil Balaji, today a close confidante of the current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin, had been accused of the same crimes by MK Stalin himself in the past, creating an ironic turn of events.
தமிழக முதல்வர் திரு @mkstalin அவர்களின் நீண்ட நாள் ஆசை இன்று நிறைவேறியது.
தொடர் ஊழல் குற்றச்சாட்டுக்கு ஆளாகியுள்ள திரு செந்தில் பாலாஜியை உடனடியாக அமைச்சர் பதவியிலிருந்து நீக்க வேண்டும் என்று தமிழக முதல்வரை வலியுறுத்துகிறேன்! pic.twitter.com/GyQeKv3Edw
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) June 13, 2023
Back in 2021, the Chennai police filed a chargesheet against Senthil Balaji, along with 46 others, including retired and serving officers, in connection with a recruitment scam.
According to sources, out of the 47 accused mentioned by the Chennai City Crime Branch job fraud wing, 33 individuals secured positions in various Transport Corporations, including MTC Chennai, by paying bribes to Senthil Balaji, who was the minister at the time, through his aides in 2014-15. The High Court had ordered a reinvestigation into the recruitment scam, specifically regarding the hiring of reserve crew drivers, conductors, Junior Trades Men, Junior Assistant (JA), Junior Engineer (JE), and Assistant Engineer (AE) in all the Transport Corporations.
Investigations revealed collusion between Senthil Balaji, his close associates, and various officials during the appointment process, abusing their positions of authority. The appointment orders were allegedly issued based on fraudulent lists provided by Balaji, rather than on merit. His aides, B Shanmugam and M Karthikeyan were accused of collecting large sums of money from the candidates on his behalf.
The recent events surrounding the ED raids and subsequent arrest of Senthil Balaji have reignited public attention on the alleged recruitment scam. As the case progresses, it remains to be seen how the legal proceedings and investigations unfold, shedding light on the extent of the alleged fraudulent activities and the involvement of various individuals implicated in the scandal.
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