Madras High Court grants anticipatory bail to Senthilbalaji and his brother Ashok Kumar in TVK MLA bribery case

Published 8 July 2026 · local

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) granted anticipatory bail to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) former Minister V. Senthilbalaji and his brother R.V

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) granted anticipatory bail to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) former Minister V. Senthilbalaji and his brother R.V. Ashok Kumar in a case related to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Member of the Legislative Assembly N. Elayaraja, representing Uthangarai constituency, having been reportedly offered a bribe of ₹35 crore. Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan granted the relief on condition that both the petitioners must appear before the investigating officer twice a day until further orders and cooperate with the investigation. The orders were passed after hearing senior counsel N.R. Elango and P. Kumaresan for the petitioners and Government Counsel (criminal side) R.

John Sathyan for the prosecution. In his submissions, Mr. Elango alleged that the case had been booked with a political motive and that the averments in the complaint regarding an attempt to topple the government were the perceptions of the TVK MLA and nothing more. He said, the Legislative Assembly Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar was elected unanimously and there was no reason to bring any resolution against him as mentioned in the complaint. It was also brought to the notice of the court that no monetary transaction had actually taken place and that the complaint only speaks about an offer of ₹35 crore having been made.

Elango conlcuded his arguments by stating that the petitioners were willing to cooperate with the investigation and be available for questioning as and when the police summons them for inquiry. On the other hand, Mr. Sathyan told the court that it was a serious case of an attempt having been made “to destablise the government.” He said, the investigation was at a nascent stage but the probe conducted so far by the Greater Chennai police had revealed that the complainant was only one of the 10 TVK MLAs whom the accused had targeted to “poach.” He said, some of the accused in the case had stayed in a hotel at Guindy in Chennai to execute the crime and that their presence had been confirmed throught their mobile phone tower locations.

He said, the investigation had led the police team to Bengaluru where some “startling revelations” had been made and much more was to be unearthed. “It seems Hawala money is involved in this case,” the Government Counsel said. Vehemently opposing the grant of bail to the two petitioners, he said, the investigating team was collecting materials regarding other MLAs who had been lured and said, the middlemen appeared to have been offered a brokerage of ₹5 crore for executing the deal.