The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu government to produce all correspondence exchanged with the office of governor over the grant of sanction to prosecute former minister V Senthil Balaji in the cash-for-jobs scam after victims in the case informed the court that the trial against him was delayed as the request for sanction had been kept pending since January this year.

A bench headed by justice AS Oka said, “We direct the state government to place on record the copies of the applications and other correspondence made with the office of the governor as regards the grant of sanction to prosecute the ex-minister.”

The order of the court came on a petition moved by a group of victims led by Y Balaji asking the top court to appoint a special public prosecutor for the case, direct a special investigation team to probe the reasons for delay and order completion of trial within a period of one year.

The bench, also comprising justice Augustine George Masih, also directed the state to produce copies of the orders appointing prosecutors who are to conduct the prosecution in the cases involving the former minister, setting out their experience in handling such cases. The court sought an affidavit from the state on the above aspects and posted the matter for hearing on September 2.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan appearing for the victims along with advocate Balaji Srinivasan informed the court that the request for sanction was forwarded by the state to the governor on January 4 this year and since then it is kept pending. On account of the non-grant of sanction, the cases before the trial court are getting adjourned.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which arrested the former minister in June last year to probe alleged money laundering charges related to the scam, told the court that three predicate offences are pending against Senthil Balaji where sanction is pending. He further stated that in one case, more than 100 witnesses are there while in another there are over 2,000 accused and witnesses.

He suggested that a “neutral” public prosecutor can be appointed who may examine if some of the witnesses can be dropped. The court objected to the term “neutral” as it wondered how anyone can say that a prosecutor is neutral. “On what basis can one say that a prosecutor is neutral,” the bench said, adding further that it is doubtful whether a prosecutor appointed by the state can exercise discretion on which witnesses are to be examined.

The state represented by senior advocate Shekhar Naphade said that there has been no delay on part of the state on the issue of grant of prosecution against the ex-minister under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Naphade said that since the request for sanction was forwarded to the governor’s office, a query was received by the end of January seeking additional copy of investigation report. The same was provided to the governor on February 2.

Responding to the demand by the victims for a SIT to probe reasons for delay, the state suggested the court review the records that will reveal the reasons for delay, adding that no part of the delay can be attributed to the state.

Balaji is accused of allegedly receiving bribes for providing jobs in the state transport department during his tenure as state transport minister in 2014-15. Then, he was part of the AIADMK government. In 2021, he became a minister in the present DMK government and continued as a minister till his resignation in February this year.

The top court has also reserved orders on granting him bail in the ED case where the trial is yet to begin. The former minister claimed bail on medical grounds citing his ill-health and delay in trial, but the ED claimed that he has already influenced witnesses in the case and his brother, also an accused in the scam, is still at large.