The Madras High Court on Tuesday delivered a split verdict in the Habeas corpus plea filed by Megala, wife of Senthil Balaji against his arrest by the
Justice Nisha Banu observed that the Habeas Corpus petition is maintainable and that the Enforcement Directorate is not entrusted with the powers to seek police custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. She also dismissed the application filed by the Enforcement Directorate seeking to exclude the period of treatment undergone by Balaji while calculating the period for custodial interrogation.
Differing from this opinion, Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy held that the Habeas Corpus Petition is not maintainable. He observed that normally HCP is not maintainable unless it is shown that the arrest and detention is illegal. He added that in the present case, the petitioner had not made out a case to hold that the remand was illegal and thus the HCP was not maintainable.