Judge disallows Ajay Chautala's plea to meet family in court

Irked by the huge crowd of supporters that gathers during hearings in a disproportionate assets case against Haryana MLA Ajay Chautala, a Delhi court today rejected his plea for meeting his family members in the courtroom.
"Keeping in view the huge crowd that gathers in the courtroom on every date of hearing, in the opinion of this court, it is not feasible to allow meeting as prayed," Special CBI Judge Manu Rai Sethi said.
The order came on Chautala's plea that he be allowed to meet his brother and two brothers-in-law in the courtroom.
Chautala, who is lodged in Tihar Jail after being sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in the 2000 junior basic teachers recruitment scam by another court, was today produced before this court in the midst of tight security.

The police had cordoned off the courtroom and maintained maintaining a close vigil to keep a large number of Chautala's supporters at bay.
"On the last date, permission was given to the accused (Ajay Chautala) to meet his family members in the court but in that case the family members were his wife and sisters. They were accordingly permitted.

"Condition today is quite different. The relatives i.E. son and brothers-in-law of the accused can very well go and meet him in jail as per the jail procedure," the court said.
In January, Chautala and his father and former Haryana Chief Minister O P Chautala were sentenced to ten year jail term each in the JBT scam case.

In March 2006, CBI had registered three separate disproportionate assets cases against O P Chautala, Ajay Chautala and Abhay Chautala on a complaint by Haryana Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala.