Madras High Court dismisses Senthilbalaji’s plea to prevent police from ‘harassing’ him and his brother

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (July 22, 2026) dismissed two petitions filed by former DMK Minister V. Senthilbalaji and his brother R.V. Ashok Kumar to restrain Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC), Greater Chennai Police and Karur police from “harassing” them “in the guise of search, inquiry or investigation” in any pending or proposed criminal case.

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan said, no such direction could be issued since the petitioners had already obtained anticipatory bail in the pending cases and it would be premature to issue such a direction by anticipating the registration of criminal cases against them in the future. The pleas were rejected following stiff opposition by State Public Prosecutor (SPP) R. John Sathyan.

The SPP told the court that though the petitioners had obtained anticipatory bail in some of the pending cases, they were yet to surrender before the jurisdictional magistrate for the purpose of executing bonds and furnishing sureties. He said, the petitioners could not obtain a blanket order against their arrest in any case by seeking a direction to the police to not harass them.

In his petition, Mr. Senthilbalaji had said, even after the High Court had granted anticipatory bail to him as well as his brother in a case related to alleged bribe of ₹35 crore having been offered to Uthangarai TVK MLA N. Elaiyaraja to act against the interests of his party, “the search operation and attempts to keep the petitioner and his family under continuous pressure have not ceased.”

The plea went on to read: “The petitioner reliably understands that there is an instruction from the political top that, one way or another, the petitioner and his brother must be implicated in some other case and remanded for ’settling scores.’ The petitioner submits that the continued search operation, after the grant of anticipatory bail, is not for any bona fide investigative purpose, but is intended to create an atmosphere for arrest in one case or another and to humiliate the petitioner politically.”

He also alleged that the ruling dispensation had developed an animosity against him and his brother ever since the death of 41 people due to a stampede that occurred during Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s election campaign in Karur on September 27, 2026.