Former Haryana Chief Minister Omprakash Chautala has been sentenced by a special CBI court to four years in jail for a disproportionate assets case. A fine of Rs 50 lakh has to be paid. The court also ordered the confiscation of four of his properties in Delhi and Haryana. According to the CBI, Chautala was found to have earned over Rs 2.81 crore illegally. It is a great joke to say that a person who has been the Chief Minister five times and has never given up a single opportunity for corruption has only amassed this much illegal wealth. However, under the Anti-Corruption Act, punishment is guaranteed if disproportionate assets have been acquired, no matter how small the value of the property.

Chautala's sentence was reduced to four years on the basis of his age and physical state. He is currently serving a 10-year sentence in another corruption case. He was convicted of illegally recruiting 3206 junior teachers in Haryana in 2000. The current sentence comes after he was released on parole after nine years in prison. Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa have been jailed in connection with a fodder scam. The length of time it takes for leaders to resolve corruption cases is tantamount to mocking the entire legal and judicial system. Chautala is now convicted in a case that was registered in 2006.

On the issue of corruption, the bold steps taken by the newcomer Aam Aadmi Party can serve as a model for the mainstream parties as well. When the party first came to power in Delhi, the party leadership took steps to oust a corrupt minister. It boosted the image of the Aam Aadmi Party among the masses and was a warning to ministers. In Punjab, a few days ago, the party also ousted the health minister for corruption. In Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's tendency to hand over attractive salaries to ministers was with the aim to bring an end to the corruption trend. No self-respecting person would be willing to accept a bribe if he is paid enough. Exceptions to it will not go unnoticed. Politics becomes pure when such people are handcuffed and expelled. Large-scale fundraising, both by individuals and by political parties, is also a form of corruption. Often such collections are not even accounted for. Here too, as the Aam Aadmi Party does, collecting from the people by giving a limited amount of coupons can save you from the contributions of bigwigs.