Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala held guilty in teachers job scam - Wednesday Jan 16,2013

The former Haryana Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal president, Om Prakash Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala and 53 others were convicted by a special CBI court here on Wednesday for illegal selection of over 3,000 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers by replacing the original selection list compiled from 18 districts with fake ones.

Terming Om Prakash Chautala as the “main conspirator,” Special CBI Judge Vinod Kumar convicted all the accused persons of criminal conspiracy, criminal misconduct by public servant, abuse of official position, forgery, and cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may ensue to person whose interest the offenders were bound to protect

The Teachers Job Scam
The recruitment was initiated in 1999 to solve the acute shortage of teachers in Haryana and 3,206 vacancies were advertised in 18 districts.

Sanjiv Kumar, who was the Director of Primary Education (DPE), when the award lists were swapped, approached the Supreme Court in 2003 with a writ petition alleging that he was pressured by Om Prakash Chautala to replace the original lists with fake ones.Sanjiv Kumar also submitted in the court 15 award lists which he said were fake and claimed that despite political pressure and alleged victimisation, he implemented the original list.

However, Mr. Kumar’s claim to be a whistleblower was exposed by the CBI which found that he was also complicit in the conspiracy to swap the award lists and that the 15 he had submitted in the Supreme Court were actually part of the original lists and not the fake ones.

The CBI found that two DPEs, who occupied the post before Sanjiv Kumar, were eased out in quick succession because they refused to cooperate with Om Prakash Chautala. The prosecution also told the court that Sanjiv Kumar had secretly replaced the original lists — kept sealed in an almirah by his predecessor — and then replaced them with the fake ones. The agency said Sanjiv Kumar then undertook a “de-sealing drama” to demonstrate that the original lists were being taken out of the almirah.

10-year jail for Om Prakash Chautala, son in recruitment scam

 

A Delhi court on Jan 22,2013 Tuesday awarded 10 years in jail to former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala in a recruitment scam involving junior basic training (JBT) teachers.

Special CBI Judge Vinod Kumar sentenced the Chautalas and three others to 10 years in jail.

Apart from the Chautalas, Sanjiv Kumar, the then director of primary education, Chautala’s former officer on special duty Vidya Dhar and his political adviser Sher Singh Badshami were also awarded the jail terms.

Om Prakash Chautala and Ajay Chautala, both legislators from Haryana, were taken into custody on January 16 after being convicted for the illegal recruitment of over 3,000 JBT teachers in the State.

The court had also convicted 53 others for the scam.

Chautala, his son and others were held guilty of offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).

The court framed charges against them under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the IPC and provisions of the PCA. 

Former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala being taken to Tihar Jail in New Delhi after conviction in the teachers' recruitment scam