A special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Delhi, on Friday, 27 May, sentenced former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala to four years' imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on him.
Further, the court ordered confiscation of his four properties.
A Delhi court had earlier this month held the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo guilty in a disproportionate assets case, which was registered against him in 2005. His counsel had thereby cited medical grounds for less punishment and submitted that Chautala was partially disabled, having been infected with polio since birth.
The CBI had contended that Chautala had amassed assets worth over Rs 6.09 crore, far exceeding his known sources of income, between 1993 and 2006. In 2019, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had attached his assets worth Rs 3.68 crore.
Reacting to the development, INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala, said, "We are speaking about verdict with our lawyers. OP Chautala is a strong, courageous man. He has seen several highs and lows. We believe in Indian justice system and hope to get justice in High Court," news agency ANI reported.
JBT Teachers' Recruitment Scam
Prior to this, Chautala was pronounced guilty by the top court in 2013 in the JBT teachers’ recruitment scam. He was found guilty of illegally recruiting over 3,000 unqualified teachers and in connection with this, sentenced to seven years’ jail on corruption charges. He also got 10 years on charges of criminal conspiracy.
After completing his sentence in the case, he was released on 2 July 2021. He also, thereafter, resumed political activity in an attempt to revive the INLD.
Other Controversies
Chautala has often, through the course of his political career and even before that, been embroiled in controversies. These include:
In 1996, the Justice KN Saikia Commission indicted him as an accessory to murder of his political rival Amir Singh, following which his party was forced to bring in another chief minister. However, Chautala returned to the post in approximately two months
In 1990, as a chief minister of the state, he was accused of protecting senior police officer SPS Rathore in a molestation case
In 1977, before he became an active politician, he was also caught at the Delhi Airport while trying to smuggle wristwatches worth Rs100,000
(With inputs from IANS, ANI, and The Indian Express.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)