Fri Mar 28 07:35:49 UTC 2025: **Madras High Court Rejects Plea to Unbundle Charges Against Tamil Nadu Minister**
Chennai, March 28, 2025 – The Madras High Court today dismissed a petition challenging the consolidation of four supplementary chargesheets filed against Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji in a job racket case. The petition, filed by the Anti-Corruption Movement, argued that combining the chargesheets, which detail alleged irregularities in appointments across various state transport corporations during Senthilbalaji’s tenure as Transport Minister, would create an unwieldy and impossibly long trial.
The chargesheets involve thousands of accused and hundreds of witnesses across various alleged schemes. The petitioner claimed that a combined trial involving over 2,256 accused and 668 witnesses would take an estimated 1,500 years to complete. However, the court, after reviewing a counter-affidavit from the government, rejected the plea. The case will now proceed with all four chargesheets combined.
First Piper 