The Supreme Court on Wednesday, while hearing former Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji’s bail plea, asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to show the pen drive recovered from Balaji’s residence, which allegedly contains evidence against him.
The central probe agency arrested Senthil Balaji in June 2023 in connection with a cash-for-jobs case.
In its prosecution complaint, equivalent to a chargesheet, the probe agency has relied on a file named ‘CSAC.xlsx’, which, as per the agency, contains evidence of Balaji getting Rs 67 crore.
A bench led by Justice Abhay Oka asked the ED’s lawyers to provide a straightforward answer to where the agency recovered the soft file, which they claim implicates Balaji and contains evidence of proceeds of crime worth Rs 67 crore.
“We want simple answers to simple questions,” Justice Oka stated.
This came after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Balaji, argued that the file was not a part of the pen drive recovered from Balaji’s residence.
“You have to show us that the pen drive marked as Item No. 5 was the same that was sent to FSL, and a CSAC file was found in it… Prima facie evidence you have to show that this file on which you are relying, which will implicate him straightaway, was found in the pen drive (seized from Balaji’s residence),” Justice Oka said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, argued that the petitioner’s lawyers were oversimplifying the situation and that the court needed to consider the background of the case.
The ED’s counsel, Advocate Zoheb Hossain, informed the court that the soft file was part of material seized not by the agency but in the predicate offense by the local police.
The court reiterated its question, saying, “It is important to note that the file in question is a digital file, which cannot be physically seized as it exists only in electronic form.”
The court also stated that the agency must show whether the pen drive was sent for analysis to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and if there is a report confirming that the said file was part of the pen drive.
“Suppose we read evidence tomorrow showing this file was found on a device at his house. The simple question we are asking is, Which device had this file? So you have to show that the pen drive was sent to the FSL, which reported that this file was part of the pen drive,” Justice Oka said.
Justice Oka emphasised the need for prima facie evidence to establish that the file the ED is relying on was indeed part of the seized pen drive.
“Please understand. You claim that the pen drive seized in the predicate offence contains a specific sheet. You must provide the FSL report which examined the pen drive and confirmed the presence of this file,” Justice Oka insisted.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta then requested a day’s adjournment to allow the agency time to respond to the court’s enquiry.
“You want us to deny him bail. According to you, the entire data implicating him is in that file. Even at this stage, the prosecution must show us that the file was verified by an expert body. We can hear this tomorrow,” Justice Oka stated.
The court will resume hearing the case on July 25.