Former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala sentenced to four years in prison

A Delhi court on Friday sentenced former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala to four years imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case.Special Judge Vikas Dhull who passed the order also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on Chautala and ordered the seizure of four of his properties.During hearing, Chautala’s lawyers had requested the court to pass a lenient sentence considering his medical condition.However, the CBI opposed the submissions of Chautala’s lawyer seeking a grant of concession on the ground of ill health and age. The agency had pushed for maximum punishment for Chautala stating that it would send a message to the society.

“The person, in this case, is a public figure and giving minimum punishment would send a wrong message. He does not have clean antecedents. It is the second case in which he has been convicted,” the CBI said.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was probing the case, filed the chargesheet against Chautala on March 26, 2010. The agency contended that between 1993 and 2006, the seven-time MLA amassed assets worth over Rs 6.09 crore, far exceeding his known sources of income.In its judgement convicting Chautala, the court noted that the accused had acquired disproportionate assets to the tune of 103 per cent of the known sources of income. Chautala was found guilty under Section 13(1)(e) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.This is Chautala’s second conviction after he was pronounced guilty by the Supreme Court in 2013 in the JBT teachers’ recruitment scam and sentenced to seven years in jail on corruption charges and 10 years on charges of criminal conspiracy.