New Delhi: Ahead of his son Dushyant Chautala's swearing in, Ajay Chautala on Sunday was released from Tihar jail on two-week furlough. A furlough is not an absolute right and can be granted on the discretion of the director-general of prisons, to enable a prisoner to attend to social and family obligations.
But, interestingly, parole to a Tihar prisoner can only be granted by the lieutenant governor of Delhi in consultation with the state government (and the high court, if an appeal were pending), to allow him to meet an emergency in his family.
But according to Nagender Sharma, the media adviser to Delhi chief minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal: “Tihar DG did not consult the Delhi government, nor was the view of the government sought.’’
Ajay Chautala, 57, is in Tihar jail since January 2013 after being convicted in a teachers' recruitment scam along with his father and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala.
His son Dushyant took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister in the Haryana government led by M. L. Khattar on Sunday afternoon.
The decision to release Ajay on furlough was made public on Saturday, less than 24 hours after BJP president and Union home minister Amit Shah had met Dushyant and sealed a deal to share power in Haryana.
"Dushyant asked me if he should go with the BJP or the Congress. I told him, whatever the circumstances, we shall never go with the Congress. I gave him the go-ahead to go with the BJP," Ajay Chautala said, adding "it will be beneficial for the state."