Veteran politician Om Prakash Chautala released from Tihar jail

Chautala, the former CM of Haryana, was sentenced to jail in connection with the teacher recruitment scam case. According to prison officials, the Indian National Lok Dal leader who was out on parole, completed the formalities after which he was released.

New Delhi:Former chief minister of Haryana Om Prakash Chautala (86), who was sentenced to a 10-year jail term in connection with the teacher recruitment scam case, was released on Saturday from the Tihar jail. According to prison officials, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader who was out on parole, completed the formalities after which he was released. "After necessary formalities, he (Chautala) has been released," Sandeep Goel, Director General (Delhi Prisons) said.

Earlier, in June, the Delhi government had passed an order granting a six-month special remission to those who have served nine-and-half years of their 10-year prison sentence to decongest jails given the COVID-19 pandemic situation. According to officials, since Chautala had already served 9-years and 9-months of his sentence, he was eligible to get out of prison.

Read:Former Haryana CM OP Chautala completes sentence in JBT case, to be out of prison soon

Chautala was on emergency parole since March 26, 2020, due to the Covid pandemic and was scheduled to surrender on February 21, 2021. However, his parole had been extended by the high court, according to a jail official. As of February 21, the octogenarian had two months and 27 days of jail time left which has been counted as remitted.

OP Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala and 53 others, including IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar, were sentenced in the case pertaining to the illegal recruitment of 3,206 junior basic teachers in 2000. They all were sentenced in the case by a special CBI court in January 2013.