INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala sentenced to 4-year rigorous imprisonment in DA case

In a massive development on Friday, INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala was sentenced to 4 years of rigorous imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case. A 4-time Chief Minister, he is the grandfather of current Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala. A special CBI court had convicted him in this case on May 21. Special Judge Vikas Dhull also directed the 87-year-old politician who attended the court in a wheelchair to pay a fine of Rs.50 lakh and ordered the confiscation of 4 properties belonging to him. While the former Haryana CM sought 10 days' time to file an appeal against the verdict, the court turned down this demand.

Speaking to the media on the judgment, his son and INLD secretary general Abhay Singh Chautala said, "We will challenge this verdict in the High Court. We are hopeful that we will get complete justice in the HC". He added, "We will talk to our lawyers in two days and we might approach the High Court on Monday or Tuesday". 

OP Chautala's conviction in disproportionate assets case

The present case in which OP Chautala was convicted dates back to 2005. In the charge sheet filed by the central agency on March 26, 2010, it was alleged that he amassed disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs.6,09,79,026 while working as an MLA or CM from May 24, 1993, to May 31, 2006. According to the CBI, the percentage of the disproportionate assets was 189.11% of his known sources of income. These assets reportedly included cash, jewellery, land, complexes, residences, hotels, farmhouses, petrol pumps and investments in foreign countries.

While convicting Chautala, Special Judge Vikas Dhull held that the INLD chief had failed to satisfactorily account for such disproportionality. Thus, he was convicted for the offence under Section 13(1)(e) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Incidentally, this is not the first time that Chautala has been convicted in a case. 

He was jailed since 2013 after being convicted along with his son Ajay Chautala and 53 others over the illegal recruitment of 3206 junior basic teachers. Serving a 10-year prison term, he was released on emergency parole since March 26, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ex-CM officially became a free man on July 2, 2021, owing to the Delhi government's order granting a 6-month remission to all those who served 9 and a half years of their 10-year prison term.