Teachers' recruitment scam:Chautala,son Ajay get 10 yrs jail

New Delhi, Jan 22: A court in Rohini here today sentenced former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Singh Chautala, a MLA of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), to 10 years imprisonment in the teachers' recruitment scam.

The senior Chautala has been admitted to the GB Pant Hospital as he complained of chest pain. It is not clear if he will be shifted to jail following his conviction in the case.

Both father and son have been found guilty of recruiting more than 3,000 junior basic trained teachers in 1999-2000 during Om Prakash Chautala's tenure as the CM of Haryana.

His political advisor Sher Singh Badshami, the then director of primary education Sanjiv Kumar and another official Vidya Dhar have also been found to be involved in the scam. These accused will have to spend 10 years in jail too, the court said.

The court framed charges against the convicted under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the IPC and and provisions of the PCA. The court reserved its verdict on Dec 17 last year following the conclusion of the final arguments by the CBI and defence counsel.

Six out of 62, who were initially accused in the case, died during the trial while one had been discharged during the framing of charges. The court had found prima facie evidence against the Chautalas and 53 other people. Sixteen out of 55 convicted by the court were women.

In Jun 2008, the CBI chargesheeted the Chautalas and others in connection to appointment of 3,206 junior basic teachers. The CBI had said in the chargesheet that the probe found the way in which the second lists were prepared by inviting chairpersons and members of the district-level selection committees of 18 districts to Haryana Bhavan in Delhi and Chandigarh, where the details were chalked out.

The central investigative agency also said in its chargesheet that the father-son duo had used forged papers to appoint the teachers. The Supreme Court of India had asked the CBI to take up the investigation in Nov 2003.

OneIndia News