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Tag: Om Prakash Chautala

  • Haryana ex-CM Chautala gets 4 years in prison; Rs 50 lakh fine

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala was on Friday sentenced to four years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50 lakh by a special judge for CBI cases for possessing disproportionate assets.

    The 87-year-old Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo, who in the past had served five terms as Haryana chief minister, was last week found guilty of possessing disproportionate assets in a case lodged against him by the CBI over 16 years ago.

    According to a CBI statement, a case was registered against Chautala and others on the basis of allegations that as Haryana chief minister between July 1999 and March 2005, he colluded with some of his family members to accumulate both movable and immovable assets in his names and that of his family members. The CBI registered a case on April 3, 2006.

    A chargesheet filed on March 26, 2010, after completion of investigations showed that the extent of disproportionate assets was more than Rs 6 crore, which was 189 percent of his income. The trial court found Chautala guilty of possessing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 2.81 crore (103 percent of his income) and convicted him on May 21 this year.

    The case against Chautala stemmed from a Supreme Court order of Nov. 25, 2003, transferring the investigation of the JBT teacher recruitment scam to the CBI. The allegation against Chautala was that his government at the time took bribes to recruit junior basic trained (JBT) teachers by using forged documents between 1999 and 2000.

    During its probe, the CBI found a “memorandum of chargesheet” against Chautala that contained details of his assets. It reflected a list of 43 movable and immovable properties, supposedly valued at `1,467 crore. The memorandum, which was the foundation of the case against Chautala, was signed by the then Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Subsequently, the Enforcement Directorate too invesigated  the money trail.

  • INLD chief’s outreach puts Nitish Kumar in Catch 22 situation

    By Express News Service

    PATNA:  An invitation from INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala to attend the birth anniversary event of his father and the former deputy prime minister Devi Lal in Jind has put Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in a Catch 22 situation. 

    Observers said if Nitish attends the September 25 Jind event, it could deteriorate JD(U)’s already strained relations with the BJP, with whom it shares power in Bihar, but if he skips the invite, he may lose the chance to share stage with a constellation of national leaders, cherry-picked by Chautala to form a non-BJP and non-Congress Third Front ahead of the 2024 election.

    While Nitish has not confirmed the receipt of any invite, sources said Chautala has sent one to the Bihar chief minister. Chautala, who was recently released from prison after his conviction in a scam in Haryana, has invited Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP), Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Parkash Singh Badal (SAD), H D Deve Gowda of JD(S), Farooq Abdullah (NC) and Jayant Choudhary (RLD) to the event. However, none from the RJD or the Congress has been called. 

    The Jind event comes at a time when certain sections of the JD(U) have been making the Nitish-as-PM pitch. Analysts believe Nitish stands a good chance of being named as the prime ministerial face in the proposed Third Front due to his neutral political stand. “He shares neutral relations with Mamata and Sharad Pawar, among others. If a Third Front is formed, Nitish may emerge as its PM face due to his administrator skills and secular credentials.”

  • From Mamata to Deve Gowda: Om Prakash Chautala to bring several leaders together on Sept 25

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Pitching for a third front, INLD’s Om Prakash Chautala will bring together SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and SAD supremo Parkash Singh Badal on one stage on September 25, the birth anniversary of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal.

    NCP leader Sharad Pawar, TMC president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and RLD leader Jayant Chowdhury have also been invited for a “huge” political rally on the occasion in Haryana’s Jind and their confirmation is awaited, INLD leader Abhay Chautala told PTI.

    He said Mulayam Singh Yadav, Nitish Kumar, JD(S) leader Deve Gowda and Badal have confirmed that they will attend the ‘Samman Samaroh’ to mark the birth anniversary of Devi Lal.

    “Many like-minded leaders from non-BJP and non-Congress parties will come together on one stage and will raise issues that are close to the people, especially farmers’ issues,” Abhay Chautala said.

    He said that the people are looking for an alternative to the BJP and the Congress.

    By bringing all these leaders “our aim is to form the third front for the overall welfare of the country and the people,” Chautala said.

    INLD spokesperson Rakesh Sihag said Om Prakash Chautala has “personally met” Deve Gowda and Mulayam Singh Yadav and invited them for the rally.

    “It will be a huge rally and people from various states will attend it,” he said.

    Om Prakash Chautala, 86, after his release from Delhi’s Tihar Jail on July 2, had announced that he will contact opposition leaders across the country to forge a “Third Front” at the national level.

    The former chief minister of Haryana had been serving a 10-year sentence in a recruitment scam.

    The INLD patriarch had said that before September 25, which is the birth anniversary of his father Chaudhary Devi Lal, he will try to meet opposition leaders and urge them to come on one platform.

    JD(U) leaders Nitish Kumar and KC Tyagi had met Chautala at his residence in Gurugram last month and had termed it a courtesy call.

    The parties invited by INLD include those that are either in alliance with the Congress or the BJP.

  • Ex-Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala writes Class 10 English paper

    By PTI

    SIRSA: Former Haryana Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala has written the Class 10 English subject exam of the Haryana School Education Board at a centre here at the age of 86 years.

    He said he had prepared for the exam thoroughly and would pass with cent per cent marks.

    “I had appeared in the Class 10 examination two years ago while I was in the Tihar Jail. However, I did not appear in the English paper. The education board gave me a compartment in the subject, so I wrote the paper now,” Chautala said after appearing in the exam at the Arya Kanya Senior Secondary School on Arya Samaj Road in Sirsa on Wednesday.

    The former chief minister said even though he could not get much education when he was young, he used to listen to English words with attention and then write those.

    “That is how I got hold of the subject,” he said.

    A court in Rohini had convicted Chautala in the junior basic teachers recruitment case in Haryana and sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment.

    The INLD leader was lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail from January 2013 to July this year.

    “During my prison term, I decided to work on my educational qualification,” Chautala said.

    The Haryana education board withheld Chautala’s Class 12 results on August 5 as he had not cleared the Class 10 English paper.

    A class 10 student of the Sirsa school, Malkiat Kaur, assisted Chautala as a writer for the paper.

    “He was well prepared, his pronunciation was very good and his marks are expected to be good in this subject,” she said.

  • Ex-Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala walks out of Tihar Jail, will try to regain lost ground

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Om Prakash Chautala, jailed in connection with a teacher recruitment scam, walked out of Delhi’s Tihar Jail on Friday after serving his sentence. The 86-year-old Jat leader’s release could change the way politics plays out in the state, especially at this juncture when the farm agitation is building up again and panchayat polls are scheduled soon.

    Chautala’s release appears to have infused a new energy in his party workers and supporters. Hundreds of them gathered at Delhi-Gurugram border to welcome their leader and started beating drums, raising slogans and showering flower petals as soon as his cavalcade arrived.

    The INLD veteran said he would continue to fight or the poor and the farmers.

    The biggest challenge for Chautala will be to regain the lost ground, with the upcoming panchayat polls being his first test. He is faced with the task of consolidating his Jat vote bank again and re-building the party from the grassroots.

    During his incarceration, the INLD suffered a major setback as a family feud broke up the party and JJP was formed in December 2018.The JJP won 10 seats in the 2019 assembly polls and Chautala’s grandson Dushyant Chautala becoming Deputy CM as the JJP joined hands with the BJP to form government.

    The INLD’s lone MLA, Chautala’s elder son Abhay Chautala, resigned from the assembly in January in solidarity with the protesting farmers. In Chautala’s absence, former CM and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda had assumed the Jat leadership. But with the BJP coming into power and M L Khattar becoming CM, Jat dominance in power was weakened.

  • Ex-Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala released from Tihar Jail

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, who was serving a 10-year prison term in a teacher recruitment scam case, was released from the Tihar Jail here on Friday after completing due formalities, prison officials said.

    The 86-year-old Chautala, who was already out on parole, reached Tihar on Friday to complete formalities after which he was released from jail, they said.

    Director General (Delhi Prisons), Sandeep Goel, said, “After necessary formalities, he (Chautala) has been released”.

    Last month, the Delhi government had passed an order granting a six-month special remission to those who have served nine-and-half years of their 10-year prison sentence to decongest jails in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    According to officials, since Chautala has already served nine years and nine months of his sentence, he was eligible to get out of prison.

    Chautala was jailed in 2013 in connection with the teacher recruitment scam case.

    He was on emergency parole since March 26, 2020, due to the Covid pandemic and was scheduled to surrender on February 21, 2021.

    However, his parole had been extended by the high court, a senior jail official had said earlier.

    As on February 21, he had two months and 27 days of jail time left which has been counted as remitted.

    O P Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala, and 53 others, including IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar, were convicted and sentenced in the case of illegal recruitment of 3,206 junior basic teachers in 2000.

    They all were sentenced to varying jail terms in the case by a special CBI court in January 2013.

  • Delhi HC extends former Haryana CM OP Chautala’s parole till May 17

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday extended parole of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala till May 17.

    The High Court has also directed the state government to bring the original file of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s premature release considered by the Delhi Government.

    A Division Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani directed State Government to bring the original file of Chautala’s premature release considered by the Delhi Government.

    Advocate Amit Sahni appearing for Chautlala submitted that copy of the affidavit to be filed in terms of the last order dated March 8 2021 not supplied to petitioner.

    The court listed the matter on May 17 2021 and in the meanwhile the emergency parole of OP Chautala was extended by the Court.

    Chautala has sought directions to the respondent/ State to release him by granting special remission in view of related notification of 2020.

    86-year-old former CM filed the Petition before Delhi High Court through his Counsel Amit Sahni submitting that he has almost undergone the entire incarceration and as such in view of the earlier order passed in December 2019 by Division Bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Sangita Dhinga Sehgal, Delhi Government has not granted special remission to the Convict/Petitioner.

    OP Chautala and others were convicted and sentenced in the case of illegal recruitment of 3,206 junior basic teachers (JBT) in 2000.