Delhi HC seeks govt response on Ajay Chautala's plea for parole

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of the Aam Aadmi Party government on the plea of INLD leader Ajay Chautala, serving a 10-year jail term in a teachers' recruitment scam case, seeking two months' parole to maintain social and familial ties.Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notice to the government and sought its reply on plea of Ajay who has also sought setting aside of the government's 3 May order by which his application for parole was rejected.Ajay Chautala, in his plea, has contended that his parole application was "illegally" rejected by the Delhi government.He has also alleged in his plea, filed through advocate Amit Sahni, that the rejection was communicated to him only after his appeal against a similar earlier decision had been filed and was pending before the High Court.

The court on 27 May had dismissed his plea seeking 12 weeks' parole for medical treatment.The petition further states that Ajay Chautala does not come in the category of persons who are to be denied parole as per Delhi government's guidelines for parole/furlough.The INLD leader has alleged that in his case the said guidelines have been "completely overlooked".Regarding the government's 3 May order, the petition alleges that it was passed "in a mechanical manner, without application of mind and appreciation of facts" and "no reasons have been assigned" for declining the relief.The Supreme Court on 3 August last year had dismissed the appeals of Ajay and his father OP Chautala challenging the high court's verdict upholding their conviction and sentence of 10 years awarded by a trial court in the junior basic trained (JBT) teachers recruitment scam case.The high court had on 5 March, 2015, upheld the 10-year jail term awarded to Chautalas and three others, saying, "the overwhelming evidence showed the shocking and spine-chilling state of affairs in the country."The father-son duo and 53 others, including two IAS officers, were convicted on 16 January, 2013 by the trial court for illegally recruiting 3,206 JBT teachers in Haryana in 2000.