Former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala completes sentence in JBT case, to be released soon

New Delhi, June 23

Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala has completed his sentence in the JBT case, said his lawyer Amit Sahni.

According to Chautala's lawyer, the Tihar Jail Authority has communicated that the Government of Delhi has passed an order regarding special remission of six months to convicts who are sentenced for 10 years and have already completed nine years and six months of custody, including regular remission.

"It has been a battle to seek justice for Chautala. We had to approach the Delhi High Court on multiple occasions for his release. The Delhi High Court has reprimanded the Delhi government for not considering his early release despite his fulfilling all parameters," Sahni told ANI.

The Tihar Jail Authority informed the lawyer that Chautala had completed his sentence and he is eligible for special remission.

"The said convict will be finally released whenever he formally surrenders before the jail authority as he is currently on parole due to the Covid situation," the Tihar Jail Authority said.

Earlier, Sahni had approached the Delhi High Court for the directions to release the petitioner by granting special remission in light of the Special Remission Notification issued by the Government of India, as the petitioner has already undergone the prescribed sentence awarded under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

His lawyer had submitted that the petitioner is aged about 83 and as per the disability certificate issued by RML Hospital, New Delhi, in 2013, the petitioner is suffering from 60 per cent permanent disability of residual paralysis of both lower limbs and left upper limb.

Chautala was serving a 10-year jail term in the teachers' recruitment scam in Haryana during his tenure as the state's chief minister. The jail term was awarded by a CBI court in the national capital. ANI