Supreme Court orders CBI probe of Vyapam scam and related deaths
The apex court took up a bunch of petitions that demand a CBI investigation into the scam and the alarming number of deaths of people linked to it.
It also issued a notice to Centre, Madhya Pradesh governor and the state government on a plea seeking the removal of the governor Ram Naresh Yadav, said to be one of the accused i the multi-core scam.
The court may take a decision on July 24, the day for the next hearing, on the plea for monitoring all Vyapam related cases. .
The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that he has instructions by the Madhya Pradesh government on handing over the probe to the CBI.
"The AG on instructions says that 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 of the persons...for fair and impartial investigation," the court said.
The petitions were moved by a group of lawyers in Madhya Pradesh.
The Governor and his son were accused last year of accepting bribes in a First Information Report by the Special Task Force of the state police that is investigating the Vyapam scam. The High Court ruled that the Governor could not be investigated while in office, but said the police could record his statement.
In March, the Governor's son, Shailesh Yadav, who had not been questioned by investigators, was found dead in Lucknow.
Since news of the scam broke in 2013, more than 45 people-all linked to it in one way or the other, have died premature deaths, several of them under mysterious circumstances.
The parade of deaths that apparently defies explanations has led to a countrywide outcry bolstering the opposition demand for a CBI probe into the who affair, which it describes as a sinister game.
The Congress has said that these details necessitate an investigation into the Governor's alleged role in the scam as the scam involved widespread bribery, forgery and impersonation in arranging government jobs and admission to premier educational institutes.
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