A former chief minister of India’s Haryana state has successfully passed his intermediate exam at the age of 82. Om Prakash Chautala, who is currently serving a 10-year jail term in Tihar Jail for corruption charges, secured first division in the high secondary school exams conducted by at a centre set up for prisoners.
“He decided to utilise his jail term more meaningfully. Now, 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 also,” Chautala’s son Abhay Singh told The Indian Express.
“Despite all odds, he has pursued his studies,” it quoted Chautala’s close associate RS Chaudhary as saying.
The former CM, his son Ajay Chautala and 53 others had been booked and later convicted of forging documents to hire 3,206 teachers by a trial court in 2013, a decision which was subsequently upheld by the Indian Supreme Court in 2015.
Chautala is the leader of the Indian National Lok Dal party and the son of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal.
