A Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and S.V.N. Bhatti gave the Tamil Nadu government two weeks to translate the Tamil portions of documents, including charge sheets, into English, and submit them to the Governor. The court said the Governor, on receiving the translated documents, must “forthwith” take a decision on a request for sanction to prosecute the former Minister under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. In the meanwhile, the court directed the Central agency to not proceed with the probe. During the hearing, Justice Bhatti orally compared the trajectory of the case to “ping-pong”. “It is a possible eventuality that in this ping-pong, status quo will continue for all time to come,” Justice Bhatti said. The court was referring to the arguments and counter-arguments presented by the State of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Bhalaji, and a complainant in the case. Tamil Nadu Additional Advocate General Amit Anand Tiwari and State counsel Sabarish Subramanian opposed a Madras High Court order, which transferred the case from the State Police to the CBI. Mr. Tiwari argued that the investigation had been completed and a charge sheet filed in 2023. The transfer to the CBI would open up the case for a fresh probe. Senior advocate V. Giri, for Mr. Bhalaji, seconded the State’s apprehensions and objected to a second round of investigation. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for a complainant in one of the two First Information Reports (FIRs) against the former Minister, said the State Police had been caught “dragging its feet” in the investigation, which had led to the transfer of the case to the CBI. Touching on his earlier reference to ping-pong, Justice Bhatti addressed the sparring parties. “You (Tamil Nadu) say you have done your job and it is over. He (Bhalaji) says he will not be subjected to another round of investigation. Mr. Luthra says there is something more to be done,” Justice Bhatti said. The hearing began with Mr. Tiwari informing the court about a March 11 communication from the Principal Secretary to the Tamil Nadu Governor, seeking Tamil to English translations of about 400 pages of documents.