Ex-Haryana CM Chautala convicted in ₹6-crore DA case
Special CBI court to pronounce sentence on May 26; INLD chief faces up to 7 yrs in jail
CHANDIGARH: A special CBI court in New Delhi on Saturday held former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, 87, guilty of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income in a 16-year-old case. The court will pronounce the sentence on May 26.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader who was convicted and sentenced for 10 years by a CBI court in 2013 in a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of junior basic trained (JBT) schoolteachers in Haryana had completed his prison term last year and was released from Tihar jail.
In the present case, special CBI judge Vikas Dhull in a judgment announced in the open court stated that Chautala is convicted for the offence under Section 13(1) (e) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988. Section 13 (1) (e) states that a public servant is said to commit the offence of criminal misconduct if he or any person on his behalf is in possession, or has at any time during the period of his office been in possession for which the public servant cannot satisfactorily account, of pecuniary resources or property disproportionate to his known sources of income.
What legal experts say
According to legal experts, the minimum sentence as per the unamended Section 13 (2) of the PC Act is one year and maximum is seven years. The quantum of sentence under the section was amended to a minimum of four years and a maximum of 10 years on January 16, 2014. However, since the CBI had registered a regular case or FIR in April 2006 (which was before the 2014 amendment), the unamended sentence range will be applicable in Chautala’s case.
What was the case
The CBI had registered a case against the former CM on April 3, 2006, alleging that the Chautalas’ wealth was disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The central agency had raided certain premises owned by Chautala on April 7, 2005, in connection with the investigations into the JBT teachers’ recruitment scam, and recovered documents including a “memorandum of chargesheet” prepared by former Haryana advocate general Mohan Jain which pointed at the family’s huge wealth.
The memorandum of chargesheet was also submitted by Congress leaders led by Shamsher Surjewala to the then governor in the run up to the assembly polls in 2005. The FIR registered by the CBI was thus based on this “memorandum of chargesheet”.
The chargesheet had alleged that in 1977, before Chautala’s father Devi Lal came to power in Haryana, the family’s total worth comprised 32 acres of agricultural land at Teja Khera village in Sirsa.
The FIR said that the estimated wealth of Chautala family amassed between July 1999 and March 2005 when the INLD chief was the Haryana CM was ₹1,467 crore. It said that Chautala in collusion with his family members and others had accumulated assets, immovable and movable, disproportionate to his known sources of income, in his name and in the names of his family members and others.
“After investigation, a chargesheet was filed in the CBI court on March 26, 2010, against the accused. The extent of disproportionate assets was around ₹6.09 crore, i.e. 189 % of his income,” a CBI spokesperson said.
“It was a painstaking scrutiny done and facts along with visuals chronicled in the memorandum of chargesheet clearly showed that huge amount of assets were created by the former chief minister and his family when he was in power,” said former Haryana advocate general Mohan Jain while reacting to the conviction order.
Digvijay Chautala, grandson of OP Chautala and secretary general, Jannayak Janta Party, said: “I am deeply hurt and disturbed by the conviction of my grandfather by the Delhi court. I have complete faith in the judiciary and I am optimistic that my dada ji will get relief from the higher courts.”
After investigation, a chargesheet was filed in the CBI court on March 26, 2010. The extent of disproportionate assets was around ₹6.09 crore, i.e. 189% of his (Chautala’s) income.
CBI SPOKESPERSON