Vyapam scam:Plea for sharing info with STF or MP HC, dismissed

Delhi High Court today dismissed a plea seeking direction to the whistleblower in the Vyapam recruitment scam to share information on the scandal only with the Special Task Force (STF) and the SIT constituted by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Justice Siddharth Mridul declined to pass an order on the application moved by the STF after the counsel for the whistleblower, referred to as Mr X in the petition, said a duplicate set of all original documents, including a purported "original Excel sheet" retrieved from the computer of the main accused, has been handed over to the investigating agency.
Advocate Mohit Mathur, appearing for Mr X, said if the petitioner is asked to depose before the probe panel at Madhya Pradesh, his life would be in danger. The whistleblower is currently under police protection.

Mathur also said he got to know today that one of the accused wanted by Madhya Pradesh STF in connection with the Vyapam scam, was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
To this, the judge said, "it is a serious issue. Presently this case is under the jurisdiction of this court."
Sensing the mood of the court, the counsel for STF said they do not wish to interrogate the petitioner or want his custody. "The material purportedly with Mr X be asked to be transferred to the MP High Court," he said.

Taking note of the STF's submission, the court directed that all sensitive documents, including the purported "original Excel sheet", a pen drive and CDs be sent in a sealed cover within a fortnight to the Registrar General of the MP High Court at Jabalpur.

The court, however, disposed off the petition after the counsel for the whistleblower agreed to supply the documents, subject to continuation of the police protection given to his client last month.
"All the applications and petitions are disposed off with above direction," the court said, adding that all the parties here "shall be bound by the respective undertakings".
Vyapam scam was an admission and recruitment scam allegedly involving politicians, senior officials and businessmen, the plea filed by Mr X had said.