ED Tampered With Digital Evidence, Alleges Arrested Minister

Chennai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been on a nationwide drive to bring ‘corrupt’ politicians to book, mostly from the Opposition as the Congress and other regional parties repeatedly claim.

Now, a serious allegation has been brought against ED.

Arrested former Tamil Nadu Transport Minister V Senthil Balaji has accused the ED of tampering with digital evidence related to a money-laundering case against him.

The allegations were made during the hearing of his bail application in Madras High Court.

Senior Counsel Aryama Sundaram, who was representing Balaji, argued that Balaji should be granted because the credibility of digital evidence, including hard disks and pen drives, had been compromised. Sundaram cited alleged discrepancies in evidence, like switching data from an HP branded hard disk mentioned in the seizure report to a Seagate hard disk produced in court, thereby raising questions about authenticity of the seized items.

“The brand of digital evidence such as pen drive and hard disk recorded in the seizure mahazar and the ones produced in the court are entirely different,” said Sundaram, emphasising the inconsistency and potential manipulation of evidence.

Sundaram said that the evidence relied upon by ED had been fabricated by the agency itself, alleging that files on pen drive and hard disks were created in 2015 but modified in 2022.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh adjourned Wednesday’s hearing, and directed ED to present its counterarguments.

ED initiated the case against Balaji – who was Transport minister from 2011 to 2015 — under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, based on multiple cases registered by state police regarding an alleged cash-for-jobs scam.

He was arrested in June 2023, following which his bail pleas have been repeatedly rejected.

It was only on February 13 that he resigned from the Cabinet post, which he retained even after his arrest.