JBT teachers scam: HC asks govt to consider afresh OP Chautala’s plea for early release

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (December 18) directed the city government to consider afresh former Haryana Chief Minister OP Chautala’s plea for early release from jail in the JBT teachers’ scam case.

A bench of justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal set aside the government’s earlier order by which Chautala’s plea for early release was rejected.

Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala, and 53 others, including IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar, were convicted and sentenced in the case of illegal recruitment of 3,206 junior basic teachers (JBT) in 2000.

They all were sentenced to varying jail terms in the case by a special CBI court in January 2013. Kumar, the then Director of Primary Education in Haryana, had initially exposed the scam after he filed a plea in the Supreme Court. Later, he was also found to be involved in the scam during a CBI probe.

Apart from the Chautala’s and Kumar, Chautala’s former Officer on Special Duty Vidya Dhar and political advisor to the then Haryana CM Sher Singh Badshami were also given 10-year jail terms.

The others who were given 10-year jail terms are Madan Lal Kalra, Durga Dutt Pradhan, Bani Singh, Ram Singh and Daya Saini.

Apart from them, one convict was handed a five-year jail sentence and the rest 44 were given four years of imprisonment. Among the 55 convicts, 16 were women officials.