HC asks Tihar prison D-G to decide Chautala's furlough plea

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Director General (prisons), Tihar to decide within two days the furlough plea of INLD chief O P Chautala, serving a 10-year jail term in the teachers recruitment scam case.

A bench of Justices G S Sistani and Vinod Goel issued the direction while disposing of Chautala's plea against a single judge's order cancelling his furlough. The bench, while making it clear that the DG will not get influenced by the order of single judge which had cancelled the convict's furlough along with parole, directed former Haryana Chief Minister Chautala to file a fresh furlough application before the Tihar jail authority.

"Taking into consideration the submissions made, we make it clear that in case the appellant files a fresh application for grant of furlough, it would be considered independently by the DG (Prisons) within two days... and he would pass an appropriate order in accordance with law, unaffected by any observation made (by the single judge)," the bench said. The single judge had on March 1 cancelled the parole and furlough granted to Chautala on medical grounds, and asked him to "surrender forthwith", saying he "cocked a snook" at the court and "misled" it by feigning illness.

Challenging the order, senior counsel Sudhir Nandrajog and advocate Amit Sahni, appearing for the politician, said his client desires to remain present at the marriage ceremonies of his grandson and thus, he limits his prayer only for being considered for grant of furlough.