HC asks Tihar prison DG to decide O P Chautala's furlough plea

The Delhi High Court today asked the Director General (prisons), Tihar to decide within two days the furlough plea of INLD chief O P Chautala, serving a 10-year jail term in the teachers recruitment scam case.
A bench of Justices G S Sistani and Vinod Goel issued the direction while disposing of Chautala's plea against a single judge's order cancelling his furlough.
The bench, while making it clear that the DG will not get influenced by the order of single judge which had cancelled the convict's furlough along with parole, directed former Haryana Chief Minister Chautala to file a fresh furlough application before the Tihar jail authority.

"Taking into consideration the submissions made, we make it clear that in case the appellant files a fresh application for grant of furlough, it would be considered independently by the DG (Prisons) within two days... And he would pass an appropriate order in accordance with law, unaffected by any observation made (by the single judge)," the bench said.
The single judge had on March 1 cancelled the parole and furlough granted to Chautala on medical grounds, and asked him to "surrender forthwith", saying he "cocked a snook" at the court and "misled" it by feigning illness.
Challenging the order, senior counsel Sudhir Nandrajog and advocate Amit Sahni, appearing for the politician, said his client desires to remain present at the marriage ceremonies of his grandson and thus, he limits his prayer only for being considered for grant of furlough.

The counsel submitted that Chautala apprehends that if he seeks furlough, the same would be rejected in view of the single judge order.

Senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra, appearing for Delhi government, submitted that the convict's plea would be decided on merit.
"Had we been influenced, we would not have given parole to his son Ajay Chautala, who is also co-convict in the same case," Mehra submitted.
Dushyant Chautala, an MP and grandson of the 83-year-old Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief, is getting married in mid-April.
The Chautalas and three others are serving 10-year jail terms in the teachers recruitment scam case.

The Supreme Court had in August 2015 dismissed the Chautalas' appeals against a high court verdict upholding the conviction and sentence of 10 years awarded by a trial court in the junior basic trained (JBT) teachers recruitment scam case.
The high court had on March 5, 2015 upheld the 10-year jail terms awarded to the two Chautalas and three others, saying "the overwhelming evidence showed spine-chilling state of affairs in the country."
The father-son duo and 53 others, including two IAS officers, were among 55 persons convicted on January 16, 2013 by the trial court for illegally recruiting 3,206 JBT teachers in Haryana in 2000.