Former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala convicted in corruption case
The Delhi court convicted former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala in a disproportionate assets case on Saturday. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a chargesheet against Chautala on March 26, 2010 for allegedly amassing assets worth Rs. 6.09 crore between 1993 and 2006, which is disproportionate to the legitimate income. The quantum of punishment will be announced on Thursday.
ED corroborated CBI's findings
The Enforcement Directorate corroborated the CBI's findings that the former Haryana CM had allegedly acquired the aforementioned assets after attaching his assets worth Rs. 3.68 crore in Delhi. The source of income for the purchase of these assets was not on record. In January 2021, a Delhi court framed the charges against Chautala.
What was the teacher recruitment scam?
Chautala had served a 10-year jail term in the teacher recruitment scam until his premature release in July 2021 after the Delhi government granted a six-month remission of sentence amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Chautala, his elder son Ajay Chautala and 53 others, including IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar, were convicted and sentenced for the illegal recruitment of 3,206 junior basic training teachers in 2000.
Chautala's sons also face money laundering charges
Chautala's sons Ajay and Abhay also reportedly face money laundering charges in connection with the disproportionate assets case. While Ajay reportedly had disproportionate assets worth over Rs. 27.74 crore, Abhay's disproportionate assets were valued at more than Rs. 119 crore. Notably, Chautala's grandson, Dushyant Chautala is the current deputy chief minister of Haryana in the Bharatiya Janata Patry-Jannayak Janata Party coalition government.
