Ex-Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala gets 4 years in jail
A Delhi court that had convicted former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala in a disproportionate assets case sentenced him to four years in jail and imposed a Rs. 50 lakh fine on Friday. The 87-year-old politician had urged the court to grant him minimum punishment owing to his age and ailments. Chautala's four properties in Hailey Road, Panchkula, Gurugram, and Asola will be attached.
What was the case?
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a charge sheet against Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Chautala on March 26, 2010, for allegedly amassing assets worth Rs. 6.09 crore between 1993 and 2006, which was disproportionate to the legitimate income.
Chautala failed to give satisfactory account of source of income
While convicting Chautala last week, Special Judge (PC Act) Vikas Dhull had said that the former CM had "amassed wealth to the tune of 103% to the known sources of his income." He had also failed to give a satisfactory account of his source of income or the means by which he had acquired the said assets between 1993-2006, the court had said.
ED corroborated CBI's findings
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) 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, however, was not on record. In January 2021, a Delhi court framed the charges against the INLD chief.
What was the teacher recruitment scam?
Chautala had served a 10-year jail term in the teacher recruitment scam before 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 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Sanjeev Kumar, were convicted and sentenced for illegally hiring 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 ran into more than Rs. 119 crore. Chautala's grandson, Dushyant Singh Chautala, is the deputy chief minister of Haryana in the Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janata Party coalition government.
