The Madras High Court on Thursday (July 30, 2026) refused to grant anticipatory bail to former DMK Minister and sitting MLA V. Senthilbalaji in a corruption case registered against him by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Tuesday (July 28).

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan dismissed Mr. Senthilbalaji’s advance bail petition after observing that the case relates to the charge of having caused a loss of crores of rupees to the public exchequer when he was a Minister and therefore, it required custodial interrogation.

Opposing the plea, State Public Prosecutor R. John Sathyan said that the loss to the public exchequer appeared to be at least ₹100 crore and that the entire crime could be unearthed only through the investigation of the case and by subjecting the accused to interrogation.

The FIR had been registered against the former Prohibition Minister, the former Managing Director of Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) S. Visakan, the former Senior Regional Managers of TASMAC T. Rama Durai Murugan and R. Panneerselvam, and several others.

The FIR stated that TASMAC runs a total of 5,380 retail liquor shops and 3,240 bars across the State and that the district managers of the corporation had been authorised to invite tenders for running the bars within their territorial jurisdiction and selling empty carton boxes.

Though the revenue to the State government from the sale of liquor through TASMAC retail shops had been increasing considerably year after year, it was noticed by the State that the revenue to the government from TASMAC bars had been drastically declining each year.

The FIR also claimed that in 2021, the district managers of TASMAC were found to have violated the tender rules with respect to 857 bars in Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Erode, Namakkal, and Karur districts so that the bar licences could be issued to select individuals.

“The tenderers who participated in the tender process had formed a syndicate with themselves and submitted EMD (Earnest Money Deposit) Demand Draft from the same bank with continuous serial numbers, which clearly shows that cartelisation had taken place in the above tenders,” the FIR read.

It went on to state: “In the districts of Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Erode, Namakkal, and Karur, out of 857 TASMAC bars, 284 bars were closed but on ground reality, these 284 bars were still operating without renewal of the licence. As per Government instruction, any bar not submitting the monthly Demand Draft should be closed and fresh tender should be floated for the said bar. As the District Managers of TASMAC and other TASMAC officials colluded with the bar owners and did not follow the rules, it resulted in revenue loss to the government to the tune of ₹17.27 crore in Coimbatore North, ₹13.58 crore in Coimbatore South and ₹1.95 crore in the Nilgiris district during the year 2022-2023.”

Published - July 30, 2026 12:12 pm IST