New Delhi: Om Prakash Chautala, who has recently exhibited remarkable vigor and stamina for a 79-year-old reported unwell, has to go back to jail tomorrow. The Delhi High Court, which cancelled Mr Chautala's bail, has also banned him from addressing any more election meetings in Haryana, where he has served four terms as chief minister.
He has been campaigning extensively for a fifth term since he was granted bail in May 2013 to leave Delhi's Tihar Jail for a reported heart condition. The court today said that if jail officials feel it's necessary, Mr Chautala can be sent to the state-run AIIMS hospital in Delhi tomorrow for a medical examination.
Mr Chautala was convicted in January last year for running a graft-laden scheme to recruit teachers for government institutions when he was in office in 1999. He has appealed against that verdict but is also being tried for another case which charges him with misusing his office as Chief Minister to accumulate vast wealth.
Today, he told reporters that accusations that he violated the terms of his bail with star turns at rallies are unfair. "There were no conditions that I should not meet the people," he told reporters.
That stand is the polar opposite of what the CBI said in the Delhi High Court yesterday, urging judges to march Mr Chautala right back to prison. It was the CBI that investigated the teacher recruitment case which led to a 10-year jail sentence for Mr Chautala.
"He will run the government from jail," predicted his 51-year-old son, Abhay, to NDTV.
That would take some doing. Unless his conviction is over-turned by a higher court, he cannot hold office according to a landmark Supreme Court judgement last year.
He has been campaigning extensively for a fifth term since he was granted bail in May 2013 to leave Delhi's Tihar Jail for a reported heart condition. The court today said that if jail officials feel it's necessary, Mr Chautala can be sent to the state-run AIIMS hospital in Delhi tomorrow for a medical examination.
Today, he told reporters that accusations that he violated the terms of his bail with star turns at rallies are unfair. "There were no conditions that I should not meet the people," he told reporters.
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"He will run the government from jail," predicted his 51-year-old son, Abhay, to NDTV.
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