Om Prakash Chautala

Om Prakash Chautala
Om Prakash Chautala
7th Chief Minister of Haryana
	In office; 24 July 1999 – 5 March 2005
Preceded by	Bansi Lal
Succeeded by	Bhupinder Singh Hooda
	In office; 22 March 1991 – 6 April 1991
Preceded by	Hukam Singh
Succeeded by	President's rule
	In office; 12 July 1990 – 17 July 1990
Preceded by	Banarsi Das Gupta
Succeeded by	Hukam Singh
	In office; 2 December 1989 – 22 May 1990
Preceded by	Chaudhary Devi Lal
Succeeded by	Banarsi Das Gupta
Leader of Opposition, ; Haryana Legislative Assembly
	In office; 27 February 2005 – 27 October 2014
Preceded by	Vacant ; (himself in 1996)
Succeeded by	Abhay Singh Chautala
President of the; Indian National Lok Dal
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 6 April 2001
Preceded by	Devi Lal
Personal details
Born	1 January 1935 (age 89); Chautala, Punjab, British India
Political party	Indian National Lok Dal
Spouse	Sneh Lata Chautala
Children	5, including Ajay Singh Chautala and Abhay Singh Chautala
Parent	Devi Lal (father);
Residence(s)	Sirsa district, Haryana
Occupation	Agriculturalist
Profession	Politician

Om Prakash Chautala also known as O.P. Chautala (born 1 January 1935) is an Indian politician who has served as the 7th Chief Minister of Haryana from the Indian National Lok Dal. He is the son of 6th Deputy Prime Minister of India, Chaudhary Devi Lal. He holds the record for being the oldest prisoner of the Tihar Jail of Delhi (aged 87), before his release in 2020. He was the chief minister of Haryana for record four times.

Biography

Chautala was born to Devi Lal,^[2]^[3] the former Deputy Prime Minister of India.^[4]^[5] He was married to Sneh Lata, who died in August 2019.^[6] He has two sons and three daughters, including Abhay Singh Chautala and Ajay Singh Chautala.

Abhay is a Member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly from the Ellenabad constituency and has also been the Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Legislative Assembly from October 2014 till March 2019.

Chautala's grandson, Dushyant Chautala, has served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana. He is also a former Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from the Hisar constituency.

Chautala has served as the Chief Minister of Haryana from 2 December 1989 to 22 May 1990, from 12 July 1990 to 17 July 1990, again from 22 March 1991 to 6 April 1991 and, finally, from 24 July 1999 to 5 March 2005.^[1] Politically, he had been part of NDA and Third Front (non-NDA & non-UPA front) at national level.^[7]

Chautala was released from the Tihar Jail on 2 July 2021 after serving nine and a half years of a 10-year prison sentence.^[8] His early release was due to a decision of the Delhi government to reduce prison populations to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.^[9]

Recruitment scam

In June 2008 OP Chautala and 53 others were charged in connection with the appointment of 3,206 junior basic teachers in the state of Haryana during 1999–2000. In January 2013 a New Delhi court sentenced Chautala and his son Ajay Singh Chautala to ten years' imprisonment under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.^[10] Chautala was found guilty of illegally recruiting over 3,000 unqualified teachers.^[11] A CBI investigation was ordered by the Supreme Court based on a writ filed by the former director of primary education Sanjeev Kumar, a 1989 batch IAS officer.^[12]^[13]^[14]

His sentence has been upheld by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.^[15]

Disproportionate assets case

Chautala was awarded a four-year jail term in a 16 years old disproportionate assets case on 27 May 2022 by CBI Court.^[16] Along with the jail-time, the Delhi CBI Court also imposed a fine ₹50 lakh.^[17] In the process, Chautala became the oldest prisoner of the Tihar Jail of Delhi aged 87.^[18]