Madhya Pradesh govt to re-open 1200 complaints of 'Vyapam scam'

BHOPAL: After FIR into the multi-crore e-tendering scam, Madhya Pradesh government is mulling investigations into around 1200 pending Vyapam scam complaints. Kamal Nath has sought details on the cases, say sources.
More than 180 of these complaints – some of which are anonymous – name former ministers and political bigwigs of erstwhile BJP government.

Cashing in on state-Centre conflict situation post income-tax crackdown on Kamal Nath aides, whistle-blowers have suggested government for raking up the Vyapam scam.
“I met the CM and informed him about pending complaints. STF can file supplementary charge-sheets in cases. We have sent briefs on cases that were not taken up by the CBI,” says Dr Anand Rai, who met Kamal Nath in Bhopal to discuss the matter on Wednesday evening.

“The CM asked me to send a note. We have sent it already. In some of the cases, the investigating agency had to let off influential politicians under pressure from the high command,” claims Dr Rai.
CBI had taken over around 180 cases out of 251 from MP special task force (STF) after the Supreme Court handed over the case in July 2015. STF had around 1200 more complaints that was pending. They were shifted on the back burner.
Ashish Chaturvedi – another whistle-blower of the Vyapam scam – says he had filed an RTI in the CBI seeking status of the pending complaints and the agency had replied saying state government will decide over it. “I have sent a letter to the chief secretary for inquiring into the pending complaints. Most of them have crucial information that can be converted into FIRs,” he said. Even first FIR into the Vyapam scam that was registered by Chhatarpur district police in 2000 is yet to be completed.
Nearly 3,000 people including a state cabinet minister, MLAs and several high-ranking officials, were booked or arrested in connection with the case by 2015 by Special Task Force till CBI took over the case.
The CBI is left with only a few cases to be charge-sheeted in the Vyapam scam. In January, the CBI had given a clean chit to former BJP minister Laxmikant Sharma and 10 others for ‘lack of evidence’ in the sensational 2012 transport constable recruitment scam of Vyapam. Submitting the charge sheet against 26 people, the central agency noted that it didn’t find anything significant in allegations that candidates from Gondia district of Maharashtra were selected under political influence. Whistle-blowers are not satisfied with CBI investigations in most of the cases.