Om Prakash Chautala ordered to surrender on Saturday

The Delhi High Court today ordered Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief and former Haryana chief minster Om Prakash Chautala to surrender on Saturday in Tihar jail for misusing bail conditions by campaigning for assembly polls, saying he cannot "take the court for a ride".

The High Court made it clear that it would not entertain any plea on extension of time for surrender. "Let him surrender tomorrow and let's not bargain over this," it said. "You cannot take the court for a ride and cannot be permitted to question the majesty, dignity and decorum of this court," Justice Siddharth Mridul said trashing repeated submissions of senior advocates led by Ram Jethmalani.

Chautala's advocated pleaded that the 79-year-old leader be allowed to remain out till 17 October, the date fixed earlier for his surrender.

Chautala, who could not be served the HC notice yesterday night by CBI, first turned up in the morning before Special CBI Judge Manu Rai Sethi at Tees Hazari district courts in pursuance of a disproportionate assets case.

The trial court had yesterday rejected Chautala's plea seeking exemption from personal appearance and permission to take part in the ongoing Haryana election campaign. It had
sought his personal appearance on Friday.

Chautala reached the high court in the afternoon and went into a huddle with his lawyers, including Jethmalani, before entering the packed courtroom at 2.15 pm.

The moment Jethmalani started advancing arguments, the judge interrupted him saying, "Do you think anything needs to be said now. The pictures speak thousand words."

"He is an elderly gentleman and this court has been made to believe that he has been suffering from various ailments and hence, I had taken these things into consideration," the judge said.

During the hearing, the court said, "Fact is if he (Chautala) is well enough to campaign, well enough to travel, he will have to surrender."

"I cannot for a moment permit anyone to question the majesty, dignity and decorum of this court. I cannot permit this. Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done," the judge said.