HC orders medical board for Om Prakash Chautala

The Delhi High Court Thursday ordered constitution of a medical board to examine the health of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, who has been jailed for 10 years for irregularities in appointment of teachers in 2000.

Justice Siddharth Mridul asked the director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here to set up a medical board and submit to the court a report on Chautala's health condition within two days.

The medical board will be constituted with one specialist each from the city's AIIMS, Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, G.B. Pant Hospital and Tihar Jail.

The chief of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had filed a bail plea and pleaded with the court that his sentence be suspended on the ground that he was "unwell and suffering from various ailments". The court has posted the matter for May 21.

A trial court in the capital had sentenced Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala and eight others to 10 years in jail. One convict was sentenced to five years in jail, while 45 others were each handed out four-year jail terms.

Chautala and the other accused were found guilty of illegally recruiting 3,206 junior basic trained teachers in Haryana in 2000.

Seeking interim bail on health grounds, the plea said Chautala was 70 percent disabled and required constant medical supervision.