A Delhi court on Saturday convicted former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chautala in a case related to disproportionate assets, registered against him in 2005. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Thursday, the court said.
The CBI had lodged the case in 2005, and a charge sheet was filed in March 26, 2010, accusing Chautala of amassing assets worth Rs 6.09 crore, much disproportionate to his legitimate income, between 1993 and 2006.
The Chautala family had, however, slammed the case as “political vendetta”. In 2019, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached his assets worth Rs 3.68 crore, including his flat and plots in New Delhi, Panchkula and Sirsa, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
This is the second case in which Chautala has been convicted. In 2013, he was held guilty by the Supreme Court in the JBT teachers’ recruitment scam and sentenced to seven years’ jail on corruption charges and 10 years on charges of criminal conspiracy.
Chautala was released from Tihar jail on July 2 last year after completing his sentence in the case. Since his release from jail, Chautala had been active and had even started touring the rural areas of Haryana in a bid to revive the INLD.
Chautala has served as Haryana CM for four times — from July 24, 1999 to March 5, 2005; from March 22, 1991 to April 6, 1991; from July 12, 1990 to July 17, 1990; and from December 2, 1989 to May 22, 1990.
