JBT Scam: Ajay Chautala moves Delhi HC seeking parole

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Ajay Chautala on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court against the Delhi Government's decision of rejecting his parole, which he had asked for in order to prepare for his exam and attend a wedding.

The High Court is likely to hear this case tomorrow.

Chautala, who is serving a 10-year jail term in a teachers' recruitment scam case, claimed that he would not get a fair trial if his case continued to be tried in the court presided by a special CBI judge, raising questions about the conduct of the presiding officer.

Earlier, the submission was made before Justice A. K. Chawala, who asked the authorities to decide on it within two days and inform it on June 23.

Chautala filed a plea through advocate Amit Sahni seeking parole from June 28 to July 12.

He is pursuing PG Diploma in Counselling and Behaviour Modification (PGDCBM) under the Distance Education from Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar.

Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, his MLA son Ajay, and three other officials were sentenced to ten years in prison in 2013 by a special CBI court on charges of illegally recruiting over 3,000 teachers in the state by using forged documents. The scam was widely known as the JBT scam since it involved the recruitment of junior basic teachers.

The Haryana Government's former director of primary education, Sanjeev Kumar, a 1989 batch IAS officer, had filed a writ in the Supreme Court alleging that the then Om Prakash Chautala Government had resorted to corrupt practices while recruiting 3208 Junior Basic Trained (JBT) teachers in 2000.

The apex court had refused to entertain their appeals against their conviction for committing irregularities in the recruitment of 3,032 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers.

They filed review petitions following this. The petitions were slated for a decision on January 20, but this was deferred at their instance. They have pleaded for permission to file revised review petitions.

On January 22, 2013, a trial court had sentenced 55 accused in the case. Among those convicted were 82-year-old Chautala's then political adviser Sher Singh Badshami, the then Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Vidya Dhar, IAS, and then Primary Education Director Sanjiv Kumar, besides 50 others.

-ANI