Headlines
SC tells CBI to probe Vyapam scam, Congress wants Chouhan out
New Delhi/Bhopal, July 9
The Supreme Court on
Thursday told the CBI to probe the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh
including the over 40 deaths linked to it. The BJP welcomed the ruling
even as the Congress and the CPI-M sought Chief Minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan's resignation.
An apex court bench headed by Chief
Justice H.L. Dattu handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of
Investigation after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that
he has instructions from the Madhya Pradesh government to let the CBI
take charge of the sensational case.
The court said: "The AG ...
says the state of Madhya Pradesh has no objection whatsoever for
transferring investigation into criminal cases related to Vyapam scam to
the CBI and also the cases related to the deaths ... for (a) fair and
impartial investigation.
"In view of the above, we transfer
investigation of the criminal cases relating to Vyapam scam and the
deaths to the CBI from Monday."
On the plea seeking the Supreme
Court's monitoring of the CBI probe, the court said it will take a call
after hearing from the investigating agency on July 24.
Vyapam
(Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal) conducts recruitment and entrance exams not
done by the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission. The Vyapam scam
came to light in 2013 and has since assumed mind-boggling proportions,
leading to the arrest of nearly 2,100 people.
The Supreme Court
also issued notice to the central and Madhya Pradesh governments and
Governor Ram Naresh Yadav on a plea challenging the state high court
order quashing a FIR against the governor for his alleged role in the
recruitment of forest guards.
The high court has said the governor enjoyed immunity from prosecution.
Hours
after the apex court verdict, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took
potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of shielding
the Madhya Pradesh chief minister.
"The prime minister said
(during the Lok Sabha election campaign) that he will neither indulge in
corruption nor let anyone be corrupt. Why is he backing leaders in
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh?" Gandhi asked here.
Congress
spokesperson Tom Vaddakan said Chouhan should quit for the sake of a
proper investigation. "The message from the Supreme Court is clear."
As
both Chouhan and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) insisted that it was
the chief minister who wanted the CBI in, former Madhya Pradesh chief
minister and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said Chouhan should have
gone for a CBI probe two years back.
Meanwhile, the death of one more person connected with the Vyapam scam came to light in Bhopal.
The Special Task Force presented the death certificate of Sanjay Yadav, one of the accused-turned-witnesses, to a court.
On
Wednesday, the STF court in Bhopal was told that Yadav died two months
ago in a private hospital in Bhopal after prolonged illness.
BJP
spokesperson Nalin Kohli welcomed the apex court decision for a CBI
probe and said it was an endorsement of the Madhya Pradesh government's
demand.
Chouhan said in Bhopal that he was feeling relieved and wanted the truth to come out.
He said "an impression was being created across the country that Madhya Pradesh had become a land of murders".
The
Communist Party of India-Marxist also asked Chouhan to resign if "an
impartial investigation" has to be held into the Vyapam scam.