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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Will CBI probe the Vyapam scam?
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Will CBI probe the Vyapam scam?

CBI officials say the agency doesn't have the 'manpower' and 'resources' to probe a scandal so enormous with over 2,000 accused

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Photo: PTI Premium
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to an urgent hearing on the impartiality and fairness of the investigation into the multi-crore Vyapam scandal and the requirement for transfer of the cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or another central agency.

Within hours of the Supreme Court stepping in, the Madhya Pradesh government approached the CBI to take over the investigation of the case from the Special Task Force monitored by the Special Investigation Team that was set up by the state high court.

India Today reports that the call for the CBI probe came from the very top and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was told in no uncertain terms that he has to agree to the probe. The report claims that Chouhan accepted the orders from the top BJP leadership including party president Amit Shah and Union home minister Rajnath Singh who drove home the point that the Opposition cannot be given more ammunition ahead of the Monsoon session. Read more

Exactly two years before Chouhan ordered a CBI inquiry into the Vyapam scam, the Pre-Medical Test was held on 7 July 2013, in which largescale irregularities were initially detected. The New Indian Express reports that Chouhan had set up a committee in 2013 comprising senior IAS officers to look into irregularities.

Meanwhile, CBI officials say the agency doesn’t have the ‘manpower’ and ‘resources’ to probe a scandal so enormous with over 2,000 accused. A CBI official told The Times of India, “In case Vyapam probe comes to CBI, we will have to ask for additional teams of investigators/officers to probe the scandal, which is scattered in the entire state. Our hands are already tied with several multi-disciplinary probes like Saradha chit fund scam, NRHM scam, banking NPAs and others. There is already a massive shortage of officers in CBI."

The scale of the scandal is mind boggling. “Some 2,530 people have been accused since 2012. Around 1,980 people have been arrested; and 550 people are still sought by police. Twenty courts in Madhya Pradesh are looking into 55 cases registered in connection with the scandal."

All eyes are on the Madhya Pradesh high court now on whether it will order an investigation by the central probe agency. This is after Chouhan did a U-turn and announced a probe on Tuesday. Chouhan also rubbished Congress’s claims and said there is no question of his resignation. “I am proud of the fair probe and there is no question of my resigning," he said in an interview.

Many in the ruling BJP, however, feel that the delay in calling for a CBI inquiry has already dented Chouhan’s image. The Hindustan Times quoted a senior party leader as saying: “Chouhan had lost no time in recommending a CBI inquiry into Shehla Masood murder case responding positively to the demand of Masood’s family. This was despite the fact that a ruling party MLA and a ruling party MP were considered much close to Masood and a CBI inquiry was supposed to cause embarrassment to the entire party in the course of investigation." Read more

Meanwhile, law minister Sadanand Gowda found himself retracting a statement he had gave earlier on Tuesday: “See, the PM need not answer on these simple, silly issues," after the Opposition Congress questioned what it calls Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence" on the Vyapam Scam. Read more

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Published: 08 Jul 2015, 11:53 AM IST
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