The Delhi High Court on Thursday upheld a 10-year jail term for former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala in the illegal teacher recruitment case dating to 2000. It also upheld the conviction of other accused.
Following are the key points of the judgment:
*The man (O.P. Chautala) was the chief minister of Haryana, capable of much hope and an inspiration to the youth of the state. Cheating them of their future deserves punishment of the highest kind.
* The facts of the case as unfurled by the overwhelming evidence led by the prosecution at trial reveal a shocking and spine-chilling state of affairs prevalent in our country.
* The common thread between them (accused) is the flagrant disregard towards the system. Each one of them played a role in disrupting the established process to achieve their objective.
* Education is a tool, which can be skilfully used by competent teachers to model the youth (our most precious human resource) in their formative years, to enable them to become productive citizens in future and herald India to epitome of success.
* The instant case demonstrates how the process of appointing competent teachers was also vilified and not spared from the malaise of corruption.
* Such scams not only result in dissemination of poor quality education to the millions of children, who are bound to suffer, but also unfairly deprive the competent participants in such selection processes an opportunity to gain public employment and meaningfully serve the country.
* Public confidence is bound to get shaken, resulting in frustration/anxiety amongst the youth, who eagerly await the scarce employment opportunities, giving further impetus to the culture of corruption.
* Ingenious employment scam spanning across eighteen districts of Haryana was given effect to by persons at the helm of power and the entire bureaucratic machinery fell prey to its satanic influence.
* Public servants (in the case) were duty bound to preserve and uphold the dignity of law, yet they chose to flagrantly violate the law, betraying the trust reposed in them by the citizens and the Constitution.
* The very nature of the present crime, its magnitude, ramifications, designed manner of execution and the deleterious impact on the society at large, warrants a strict view, lest, justice be rendered sterile.