Madras High Court Chief Justice S. V. Gangapurwala has granted administrative approval for listing a habeas corpus petition (HCP) filed by arrested Minister V. Senthilbalaji’s wife Megala before a Division Bench of Justices J. Nisha Banu and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy to decide the date from when he could be subjected to custodial interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The approval was granted after the Registry placed the papers before the Chief Justice in accordance with a judicial order passed by Justice C. V. Karthikeyan, the third judge who decided the case after a split verdict by the Division Bench, on July 4. The third judge had held that the ED was entitled to subject the Minister to custodial interrogation but observed that the period of such interrogation could be decided only by the Division Bench.
