Rajnath Singh backs up Chouhan, rules out CBI probe

The next day, a college dean from Madhya Pradesh who was helping the investigators was found dead in his hotel room in Delhi. We wanted probe by the highest body and this was articulated by none other than Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

“I have filed a PIL with the Supreme Court, requesting it to probe the Vyapam scam immediately”, Vishwas told reporters.

” “Terming the series of deaths over the Vyapam scam as “cold-blooded murder”, Banerjee on Tuesday said she was in favour of a probe by a” neutral and capable agency”. Its Digvijaya Singh is among four people whose appeal for a CBI inquiry will be heard on Thursday by the Supreme Court.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is under attack from the opposition for the mysterious deaths and lawlessness in the state.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government has called the deaths natural, a view slammed by opposition parties.

The Apex Court today agreed to hear on July 9 the plea of Congress leader Digvijay Singh and three whistle-blowers, seeking an Apex Court-monitored CBI probe into the scam.

More than 2.5 million young people have been affected by this scam. “They are not bothered about the deaths…”.

“Loktantra lok lajja se chalta hai (public perception is important in democracy).Honouring public sentiments, I will request the high court for a CBI probe”, Chouhan said, adding “the functioning of the government should be beyond any doubt”. “I am happy that so far the investigations here have been very professional, fair and impartial and I hope that the officers will proceed like this in the future too”, he said while complimenting the money laundering and Hawala (illegal transfer of funds) probes done by the zone in the past.

Apolice team from Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh arrived at AIIMS in New Delhi on Tuesday with the viscera samples of TV journalist Akshay Singh, who died under mysterious circumstances while covering the Vyapam scam.

Chouhan said had not discussed his decision to go for a CBI probe with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now on a visit to Central Asia. The Governor was also named as an accused in a recruitment rigging matter in February this year but the High Court gave him relief a month later, saying he enjoys Constitutional immunity as long as he is in office.

Since 2012, there have been 36 deaths in connection with the scam involving politicians and bureaucrats allegedly accepting kickbacks for allowing imposters to take the recruitment exam for government jobs and admission to colleges. Senior BJP leaders are of the view that once a CBI probe is ordered it may become increasingly untenable for Shivraj Singh Chauhan to continue as chief minister.