New Delhi: Live updates: 1.15 pm: INLD spokesperson KC Banger says that the party will challenge the Rohini court's decision in the High Court. "We will wait for the high command's decision for the next course of action. We will even shed our blood if required. The Congress is using the CBI, our leader is innocent," he adds.
12.43 pm: Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda appeals to the people to maintain peace. "Have faith in the judiciary. I want to appeal to the people to maintain peace. The investigations into the case began during the NDA regime."
12.25 pm: A total of 13 accused in the case have been sentenced to 10 years in jail. These include Chautala, his son, the three main accused and four others. Haryana Police conducting flag march in Sirsa to keep troublemakers at bay.
12.15 pm: Areas along the Delhi-Haryana border put on alert. No vehicle with INLD workers will be allowed to ply, say sources.
12.05 pm: Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal says, "We will read through the judgement and decide on the teachers."
11.59 am: Security cover increased outside Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda's residence in Delhi. Meanwhile, INLD workers continue to protest and clash with policemen outside the court. Police fire 7-8 teargas shells to disperse them.
11.52 am: The three other accused sentenced to jail are Sanjiv Kumar, Vidya Dhar and Sher Singh Badshami.
11.40 am: Om Prakash Chautala, his son Ajay Singh, and three others accused in the case sentenced to 10 years in jail.
11.35 am: Congress leader Randeep Surjewala asks protesters to appeal in court if they have faith in the judiciary. "Interrupting court proceedings is to disrespect the judiciary."
11.31 am: Sentencing in case delayed due to continuing protests.
11.05 am: Lawyers unable to reach the Rohini court on time as roads are blocked by police following violence amidst protests.
Nearly 8,000 men and women supporters of former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Om Prakash Chautala on Tuesday protested outside a Delhi court which is set to sentence the politician and his son in connection with a teachers recruitment scam.
The party workers gathered outside the Rohini court and clashed with policemen.
The security personnel were forced to lathicharge and throw tear gas shells at the protesters as they tried to break through a barricade. The court has been sealed for now, say sources.
Chautala and his MLA son Ajay Singh were taken into custody on January 16 after they were found guilty of illegally recruiting more than 3,000 Junior Basic Trained teachers in 1999-2000. Apart from the Chautalas, Sanjiv Kumar, the then Director of Primary Education, Chautala's former Officer on Special Duty, Vidya Dhar, and Sher Singh Badshami, political advisor to the then Haryana chief minister were convicted by the court in the case.
The court had framed charges against them under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the IPC and and provisions of the PCA. The court had reserved its verdict in the case on December 17, 2012 after conclusion of final arguments by the CBI and the defence counsel.
Out of the initial 62 accused, six had died during the trial while one had been discharged by the court at the time of framing of charges. The court had earlier found prima facie evidence against Chautala, Ajay and 53 others, including IAS officers Dhar and Kumar. The 55 persons convicted by the court included 16 women.
The CBI had on June 6, 2008, chargesheeted the Chautalas, INLD leaders, and others in connection with the scam relating to appointment of 3,206 junior basic teachers in the state during 1999-2000. In its chargesheet, the CBI had said that the probe established the manner in which the second lists were made by calling the chairpersons and members of the district-level selection committees of 18 districts to Haryana Bhawan in the national capital and a guest house in Chandigarh, where the modalities were worked out.
The CBI, in its chargesheet, had also said that the father-son duo had used forged documents to appoint 3,206 teachers. The apex court had in its order on November 25, 2003, directed the CBI to take up the investigation of the case.
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