After Acing Class XII Exam From Tihar Jail, Om Prakash Chautala Now Wants To Graduate

Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, who's currently serving a jail term of 10 years, has passed Class XII exam with flying colours.

The octogenarian, who has been convicted in the teachers' recruitment scam, passed the exam with 'first division' or A grade, reported The Indian Express.

Om Prakash's son Abhay confirmed the news :

"He decided to utilise his jail term more meaningfully. He goes to the jail library daily, where he reads newspapers and books. He asks the jail staff to arrange for his favourite books. He reads books about great politicians across the world. Sometime, he asks us to send course books



too."

"Despite all odds, he has pursued his studies," Om Prakash's close associate and retired IAS officer RS Chaudhary added.

The four-time Haryana chief minister is now planning to pursue an under-graduate course.

Om Prakash and 54 others were convicted of forging documents to hire 3,206 teachers in 1999-2000. They were convicted by a trial court in 2013 and the judgement was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2015. The prosecutors had said that they had taken bribes and rejected good candidates to make room for the ones who paid up.

The Class XII exam was conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) at the centre set up for inmates at Tihar Jail.