SC to take up CBI probe plea in Vyapam case today

Madhya Pradesh HC said it will wait for Supreme Court's observation on the matter, thus deferring the matter to July 20

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday deferred hearing on a plea by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Vyapam scam, as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear similar petitions on Thursday. While the high court postponed the hearing till July 20, Chouhan said in New Delhi his government would request the Supreme Court for a CBI inquiry into the scandal. Chouhan, after resisting demands for a CBI investigation, had instructed the state government’s law officer to put in a plea in the high court to ask for such a probe. Additional Advocate General P Kaurav said the state government in its plea contented that though the Special Task Force of MP police was "efficiently" investigating the scam, it wants a CBI inquiry following the "recent unfortunate incidents".

The Supreme Court had on Tuesday agreed to hear the plea of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and three whistle-blowers — Ashish Chaturvedi, Anand Rai and Prashant Pandey — seeking a CBI probe into the scam.

Read more from our special coverage on "VYAPAM SCAM"

• Vyapam scam: MP HC refuses plea seeking CBI probe, says matter under SC
• Plan to shift 17 Vyapam scam accused to another prison
• Vyapam: Autopsy terms Namrata's death homicidal
• Vyapam Scam: Congress accuses Chouhan of criminal delay in agreeing to CBI probe
• Vyapam scam: Police to reopen case of student's death

In Delhi, Chouhan ruled out his resignation. When asked why the Special Task Force has not covered Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, Chouhan said the high court had held the Governor to be a constitutional authority, implying he enjoyed immunity. Chouhan is scheduled to meet party leaders in Delhi.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh Police rejected that 19-year-old Namrata Damor was murdered. The police had reviewed the case of the MBBS student, found dead on railway tracks in Ujjain on 7 January 2012, after questions were asked how her death was termed a suicide when initial post-mortem report had put the cause of death as “violent asphyxia”.

Damor is suspected to have been a beneficiary of the Vyapam scam. Television journalist Akshay Singh was investigating Damor’s death and had visited her home in Jhabua when he was taken ill and had later died. “No sign of murder have been found. We had decided to review the case to ascertain if there is anything that pertains to a “homicide” but no such fact has come up,” Ujjain’s Superintendent of Police Manohar Singh Verma told Business Standard over telephone.

“Sub-divisional officer of police, Tarana, R K Sharma has already reviewed the case and found nothing additional that ascertains murder," the Ujjain SP said.