HC seeks CBI`s response on Chautala`s plea for bail extension

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday sought CBI`s response on the plea of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, serving a 10-year jail term in teachers recruitment case, for extending by four weeks his interim bail for completing his brother`s post-cremation rituals as he was currently hospitalised.

The high court had on June 3 granted three weeks` interim bail to 79-year-old Chautala for carrying out the post-cremation rituals of his brother, who died on June 1. A bench of justice Siddharth Mridul today asked CBI to file a status report before the next date of hearing on June 23 even as the agency opposed the plea and said Chautala`s health condition should be checked in AIIMS. "Issue notice. Counsel for CBI seeks time to file a status report. Let status report be filed before the next date of hearing," the court said. The order was passed after hearing arguments by advocates RK Anand and Amit Sahni on behalf of Chautala and CBI respectively. Anand told the court that Chautala will perform the rituals or ceremonies if he is well enough. This submission came in response to the court`s query, "Is he well enough to perform the ceremonies?" Chautala has sought extension of his bail by four weeks on the ground that he is currently admitted in the ICU of Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon due to bad health and if allowed by the doctors, he would like to attend the remaining post-cremation rites of his brother Pratap Singh. Chautala was set free by the court on interim bail for 21 days while asking him to furnish a personal bond of Rs five lakh with two sureties of the like amount. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader has sought extension of bail on the same terms and conditions as given in the June 3 order. Earlier, on May 30, the high court had issued notice to CBI seeking its reply by July 11 on Chautala`s plea for regular bail citing his ill health. In his regular bail plea, Chautala, had contended that he is a physically disabled senior citizen having 60 percent permanent disability. He had contended in his plea that he is suffering from diabetes as well as chronic obstructive airway disease and is prone to both respiratory and cardiac ailments. On January 22, 2013, a special CBI court had sentenced Ajay Chautala, Om Prakash Chautala and eight others, including Vidya Dhar and Badshami, to 10 years jail term for illegally recruiting 3,206 junior teachers in 2000. Among other convicts in the junior basic trained (JBT) teachers` recruitment scam case, 44 have been sentenced to four years in jail and one to five-year jail term. All of them were held guilty of cheating, forgery, using fake documents as genuine, conspiracy under IPC and for abusing their official position under Prevention of Corruption Act.