Madras HC allows TN Minister Senthil Balaji to be shifted to Kauvery hospital for bypass surgery

Chennai: The Madras High Court, in its order passed on June 15, allowed the arrested Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji to get shifted to a private hospital from a government multi-speciality hospital where he is in judicial custody following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate. 

The Minister and his family had moved the court to shift him to Kauvery Hospital from the present Omandarur government hospital because of his health issues. He was arrested on June 14 over his alleged involvement in a money laundering and a job racket scam. 

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During the time of the arrest, he had suffered from chest pain and was admitted to Omandurar Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital under judicial custody. The doctors, following a check-up, have suggested a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), commonly known as bypass surgery. 

Following the minister's arrest, his family members filed a petition in the court regarding the incident and sought the court's intervention to shift him to the private Kauvery Hospital where the minister’s regular physician worked. 

A division bench of Justices Nisha Banu and Bharat Chakravarthy also considered the medical report of the minister from the government multi-specialty hospital. It, however, allowed the Enforcement Directorate to examine the minister using an expert medical board on his complaint about a heart ailment. The ED also sought to get him checked by a panel of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. 

The court, according to a media report in the Indian Express, noted that the minister has to bear all the expenses related to the hospital transfer. Further, the court held that they would not take into account the duration of Balaji’s hospital stays while calculating the timeframe for the ED’s petition. 

While highlighting that the doctors recommended immediate surgery for the minister, his lawyer, N R Elango, argued that the officials did not follow proper procedure during the arrest. 

Balaji, who held the portfolios of Electricity, Excise, and Prohibition was arrested early on Wednesday by the Enforcement Directorate. The arrest had created ripples in Tamil Nadu with the DMK leadership including Chief Minister MK Stalin strongly condemning the move and directly challenging the BJP-led Union government.

The division bench said that the habeas corpus petition lodged by Balaji’s wife would be heard again on June 22. Following his arrest and hospitalization, he was remanded to judicial custody until June 28 and was allowed to stay in the government hospital for treatment by a city court. 

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