Ex-haryana CM Chautala sentenced to 4 years in jail
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday sentenced former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, 87, to jail for four years for amassing assets greater than his income, besides ordering confiscation of four of his properties. The court noted that instead of working “honestly”, Chautala worked on “promoting his self-interests”.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lodged the case in 2005, and a charge sheet was filed on March 26, 2010, accusing Chautala of amassing assets worth ₹6.09 crore, disproportionate to his legitimate income, between 1993 and 2006.
The court, however, deducted around 16 months from the sentence, noting that Chautala has already undergone periodic incarcerations from 2016 to 2019, pending the trial in the case.
In his order, special judge Vikas Dhull also imposed a fine of ₹50 lakh on Chautala, even as he directed authorities to seize four of the veteran politician’s properties — two in New Delhi’s Hailey Road and south Delhi’s Asola, and two others in Haryana’s Gurugram and Panchkula.
“The SP, CBI /IO is directed to inform the concerned Sub-registrar / NDMC / HUDA regarding the confiscation of aforementioned properties to the government of India,” the judge said.
Chautala was taken into custody from the court itself to serve the sentence awarded to him.
The court said that Chautala, after getting elected as MLA and Haryana chief minister between 1993 and 2005 had taken the oath to “faithfully” and “conscientiously” discharge his duties for the state and the people.
“However, instead of working honestly in public interest, Chautala worked to promote his self interest by acquiring assets for himself, by abusing his official positions to the tune of 103% of his known source of income,” the court said, noting that the value of disproportionate assets acquired is ₹2,81,18,451.
The total cost of the properties attached by the court amounted to ₹2,48, 59,363, and the balance amount was adjusted in the fine imposed on the convict.
It also said that of the total fine, Chautala should give CBI ₹5 lakh for the expenses incurred in the investigation and prosecution, failing which the convict shall undergo simple imprisonment for six months.
The maximum punishment for the offences under which Chautala has been convicted is seven years, and the minimum is a year.
Rejecting a prayer to impose on Chautala the minimum sentence on account of his disability and other health ailments, the court said none of the diseases — like hypertension, diabetes, bronchial asthma, among others — are life-threatening. It said that there is no medical document on record to show that incarcerating the convict will lead to a deterioration of his health.
However, the court did not award him the maximum term on account of his health and age.
“[T]he time taken of 12 years in conducting the trial was due to the fact of a large number of witnesses, voluminous record, filing of miscellaneous applications by the convict and pandemic situation due to Covid-19. Therefore, it cannot be said that the delay in trial was solely on account of prosecution....therefore, the convict deserves to be dealt with strictly while sentencing him,” the court noted in a 20-page sentencing order.
On May 21 this year, while convicting Chautala for acquiring disproportionate assets, the judge said that the former Haryana chief minister amassed wealth to the tune of 103% to the known sources of his income.
The court had also held that Chautala failed to satisfactorily account for such disproportionality by proving his source of income or showing the means by which he acquired assets between 1993 and 2006.
The court had also said it was conspicuous that the accused’s income from the financial years 1992-1993 till 1998-1999 varied between ₹25,000 and ₹1,42,000 a year.