Five-time Chief Minister of India's Haryana state gets 10-yr jail sentence for corruption

A New Delhi court announced 10-year jail sentence to former chief minister of Haryana state Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala on Tuesday for corruption.

In this file photo former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala being taken to Tihar Jail in New Delhi after conviction in the teachers' recruitment scam. (Courtesy: PTI)

Special CBI Judge Vinod Kumar, who last week had convicted the Chautalas and 53 others, including two IAS officers, for corruption in a teachers' recruitment scam and other charges, handed them varying jail terms, Times of India said. The court convicted Chautala and others for illegally recruiting 3,206 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers in the state in 2000.

78-year-old Chautala, a five-time former chief minister, and his son 51-year-old Ajay Chautala are both sitting MLAs and could stand disqualified from contesting the assembly elections next year if their conviction is not stayed by a higher court.

All the 55 convicts have been convicted and sentenced under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 418 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of the IPC and sections 13 (1) (d) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Unfazed by the violence outside, the judge read out the order of sentencing as Chautala's supporters thronged the court complex threw stones and crude bombs and clashed with police who resorted to lathi charge and use of tear gas in a bid to restore order, the ToI report said.

Chautala was not present in the court because of his hospitalisation after being taken into custody last week, buthis son and all the other convicts were present in the court.

Similarly, the the court also announced ten years imprisonment to Sanjiv Kumar, the then director of primary education, Chautala's former officer on special duty Vidya Dhar, both IAS officers, and political advisor to the then Haryana CM Sher Singh Badshami, currently a sitting MLA. nepalnews.com