A special CBI court has sentence 30 people found guilty of their involvement in the Vyapam scam to 7 years in prison. One more convict has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Those convicted include 12 candidates, 12 imposters and 7 middlemen. The scam goes back to 2013 when people were caught cheating using impersonation in a police recruitment exam. It is alleged that the scam took place with the blessings of some of the most powerful people in the administration.

While six imposters were caught at the Bhopal exam center, 6 others were caught at the exam center in Datiya. They were charged for cheating and forging documents under sections 419, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC.

Most of the convicts hail from Bhind, Morena, Gwalior, Bhopal and Datiya. They were sent to Centra Jail directly from the court. Rahul Pandey, Ashish Kumar Pandey, Kulvijay, Abhishek Katiyar, Suyash Saxena, Prabhakar Sharma, Niraj a.k.a Tinku, Anil Yadav, Ajay Sankervar, Dharmesh Sahu, Phulkunwar, Devendra Sahu, Ajit Chaudhry, Bhupendra Singh Tomar, Santosh Sharma, Chandrapal Kashyap, Panjab Sahu, Ravishankar, Navis Jatav, Arun Gurjar, Udaybhan Sahu, Danish Dhakar, Antandar Sahu, Prithvendra Sahu Tomar, Sudep Shara, Ajay Pratap Sahu, Kalyanee Sahu Sikarwar, Gulvinder Singh Jat and Rajveer Singh a.k.a Bunty were ordered to serve a 7 year sentence. Pradip Tyagi was handed a 10-year sentence.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet in April 2017. The prosecution produced 91 witnesses to support their case.

However, this victory came at a steep price. Close to 40 people connected with the case ended up losing their lives. These include Namrata Damor, a young woman who was found dead near railway tracks in Ujjain district. Aaj Tak journalist Akshay Singh also died under mysterious circumstances after contacting Damor’s parents. Singh reportedly started frothing at the mouth while waiting outside Damor’s parents’house in Meghnagar in Jhabua district. Former Madhya Pradesh governor Ram Naresh Yadav’s son Shaliesh was also found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Related:
Is Vyapam Mega-Scam Being Whitewashed?
CAG report exposes lapses in Vyapam

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“We will not allow the number of deaths to go up from 36 to 37 or 38. Not one more will die,” Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu was quoted saying in July 2015 when the Supreme Court directed that all cases linked to the Vyapam scam be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Investigations have been dragging on with since then. On October 31, one result of the investigation was revealed: the CBI gave a clean chit to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was earlier accused of being “directly involved” in it. Earlier, on October 15, the CBI had ruled out any conspiracy in the 24 deaths linked to the scam. Reportedly , the CBI said that the deaths took place either from natural causes, accidents or suicides before the scam surfaced, or they were because of genuine reasons after the scam. Thus, the probe into all these mysterious deaths stands closed except the one in to medical student Namrata Damor’s death. 

With these preliminary reports submitted by the CBI, certain questions essential to the Vyapam scam seem to be left unanswered by the investigative agency.

Charges of irregularities in the official examinations conducted by the state-owned Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal – Vyapam) date back to 1995, when initial cases were filed in various police stations in Madhya Pradesh. State govt. officials used to take bribes to get applicants to clear the Vyapam exams and secure govt. appointments. It was estimated that more than Rs 1000 crore was transferred as bribes between 2009 and 2013. A Special Investigative Team lodged a number of cases in 2013 for corrupt admissions and recruitments related to Vyapam. It was also alleged that over the years, various people – students, doctors, journalists and civil servants had died suspiciously because they were either involved or associated with the Vyapam cases while many whistleblowers and investigating officials were threatened. Although the Madhya Pradesh Police put the number of deaths to be 24, Congress party in the state claims that the deaths due to the scam were 46.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh since November 30, 2005. He also held the Medical Education portfolio from December 2008 to March 2012. In 2012, whistle-blower Ashish Chaturvedi, accused Chouhan of direct involvement in Vyapam. With his Right To Information applications, he found that Chief Minister Chouhan had misled the Vidhan Sabha about issuing orders on sending certain documents for the forensic test in relation to Vyapam which he actually did not.
The main accusation against Chouhan was that he was part of the scam, and involved in fixing recruitments. The crucial evidence for this arose from a hard drive belonging to Nitin Mohindra, a Vyapam official (one of the main accused) which was alleged to contain Chouhan’s name and other details. However, it was later alleged that the hard drive had been tampered with by police officials and details of CM had been removed from it.

Whistle-blower Prashant Pandey, a cyber-security expert, who had earlier helped the Madhya Pradesh Police in Vyapam scam investigation during 2014, reportedly had a copy of Nitin Mohindra’s hard drive in which CM Chouhan’s role in the scam is evident. Although, in its charge sheet before a special CBI court, the CBI denied the allegations of “tampering” with the hard drive.

Another pending issue is the unsolved murder of Namrata Damor. Bafflingly, the police insisted that she had flung herself from a moving train. However it soon emerged that the Madhya Pradesh police had ended their investigation into Namrata Damor’s death on the basis of a second postmortem report, prepared by a doctor who later admitted that he had not examined the body and had based his findings solely on photographs provided by the police. 

Earlier this year, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report had accused the Madhya Pradesh state government of allowing the Vyapam board to function in a “nebulous atmosphere” with irregular appointments and violation of many rules between 2005- 2015.

Though the CBI has chargesheeted 490 people in the scam including Nitin Mohindra, events unfolding slowly seem to indicate that the truth is yet to emerge from behind the veil cast over it by the powerful accused. Is the freeing of Chouhan from involvement the beginning of the end?

Courtesy: Newsclick.in
 

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The recently released Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has rapped the state government over Vyapam scam.

"I have written a letter to PM and urged that Shivraj Singh Chouhan should be removed from the post of chief minister as Vyapam scam took shape during his tenure. The CAG too has rapped the state government over it," Singh told reporters here today.

The CAG has passed strictures against the Madhya Pradesh government for "systematic subversion of rules" in appointment of director and controller of the scam-tainted Professional Examination Board (also known by its Hindi name -Vyapam).

Singh alleged that 53 persons died and 55 FIRs were registered in connection with the scam. Nearly 2,500 persons were facing investigation by various agencies including the CBI. Now, CAG has highlighted irregularities in it.

Besides, 2,100 persons were arrested in connection of this massive admission and recruitment racket, he said.

"All this (Vyapam scam) transpired during the tenure of Chouhan as CM. He was incharge of the states medical education department when this scam occurred. The CM himself has admitted to the irregularities in 1,378 appointments made through Vyapam," he said. Leader of Opposition said, "Surprisingly, none of the investigating agency summoned the chief minister to get details about the scam.

"When former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can be summoned on ground of being incharge of coal ministry, why a chief minister cant be examined."

Singh said, earlier, two chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh — Uma Bharti and Babulal Gaur were removed from their post by the top BJP leadership when charges were not even related to corruption.

"Why BJPs top leadership is going soft on Chouhan?" he wanted to know.

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Image: Indian Express

On the last day of the budget session of the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha on March 24, Comptroller and Auditor General of India demolished the claim of the BJP ruled state government that Madhya Pradesh has ceased to be a "Bimaru Rajya".
 
The report which was tabled in the house pulled up the state government on two major counts. The two issues relate to health care, particularly in rural areas and various factors pertaining to the Vyapam scam. 
 
In a major embarrassment to the Madhya Pradesh government, CAG has punched holes in the implementation of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). 
 
A newspaper reporting CAG's comment about health care said that it has caused a major embarrassment to the state government. Normally CAG reports are only tabled in the Vidhan Sabha but this time CAG report was released at a press conference. 
 
The report found state government's claim about health care in rural areas hollow and baseless.
 
The central audit revealed financial irregularities and misappropriation of central funds for the project. The Centre gave Rs 5,269.70 crore to the state in the last fiscal year to revamp rural healthcare but the state failed on a host of key parameters.
 
Infant mortality rate (IMR) in the state was 51 per 1,000, live births and maternal mortality rate (MMR) stood at a shocking 221 per 1,00,000, way higher than the national average (40 and 167 respectively). The report said the shortfall in providing maternal, child and reproductive healthcare services resulted in the failure in achieving targets.
 
Out of 93.72 lakh pregnant women registered for ante-natal care during 2011-16, only 52.51 lakh (56 per cent) were registered within first trimester of pregnancies and 19.44 lakh (21 per cent) pregnant women did not undergo three check-ups. As a result, well-being and the progress of fetal growth could not be ascertained in such cases.
 
HIV testing of 47.27 lakh and VDRL testing of 60.34 lakh pregnant women were not conducted.
 
As many as 28 per cent women were discharged within 48 hours of delivery in public institutions, says the report, and only 35.21 lakh (55 per cent) mothers received post-partum check-up between 48 hours and 14 days after delivery due to the "apathetic attitude of service providers", it adds.
 
Against 93.72 lakh registered pregnancies during 2011-16, there were only 69.83 lakh deliveries. The case of missing deliveries may have an impact on the skewed sex ratio of 52:48 at birth in the state.
 
There was shortfall of 16-21 per cent in targets set for child immunisation against seven vaccine-preventable diseases due to lack of awareness among parents and failure to mobilise women/ children by the administration, the report points out. Out of 69.25 lakh live births, only 39.30 lakh (57 per cent) infants were provided hepatitis B vaccine due to lack of storage facilities.
 
The State did not achieve the targeted total fertility rate (TFR) due to under-performance in family planning programme, says CAG. Against 3.03 lakh male sterilisations planned during 2011-16, only 0.83 lakh (27 per cent) were performed. Female sterilization was a shade better at 43 per cent and 22 per cent of target (minilap and post-partum). There was a 42 per cent shortfall in distribution of contraceptive pills and 49 per cent in condoms.
 
The CAG has also severely criticised the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government on a string of "irregularities" concerning Vyapam — from the government's alleged "dual stand" and how central auditors were stopped from accessing its records to "arbitrary appointments" and alleged lack of financial accountability. 
 
The report has ignited a political storm in Madhya Pradesh where the Vyapam scam is still a raw wound for the government and a soft target for the opposition.
 
"While the MP government disowned and distanced itself from Vyapam, on the other hand it was in full control of the examination board for all practical purposes… The shadowy control (on Vyapam) has led to a situation where there was severe erosion in the credibility of exams conducted by board," CAG observed in its latest report for 2015-16.
 
In a scathing remark, the report points out that the state government" did not take any remedial measures" by framing rules/regulations to prevent irregularities even after the Vyapam scam.
 
While the government seemed numbed by the report — no one was willing to give a comment — Congress seized the opportunity. Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh said, "This is a very damning report. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan BJP government now stands fully exposed."
 
The CAG has recommended that the state government investigate cases of irregularities in appointment of officers to the board and hike in pay of officers. It also suggests Vyapam be brought to the level of a public service commission/staff selection commission.
 
The appointments of director and controller were made by "systemic subversion of rules", resulting in undue favour to certain individuals, it says. Dr Yogesh Uprit and Dr Pankaj Trivedi were appointed to these posts directly on orders of the then minister "in contravention of the rules".
 
The delay in establishment of statutory Board, "defeated the purpose of providing greater authority and credibility" to the Professional Examination Board in Madhya Pradesh. The state legislature passed the Vyapam Act in August 2007 but the government established the statutory board under this Act only in March 2016 — after a delay of more than eight years.
 
Recruitment examinations for state-level posts were transferred to Vyapam in April 2003 in an "unprecedented manner", the CAG report says. There was no augmentation of manpower/established system to handle the new function. This hampered conduct of examination by the board.
 
Conduct of recruitment examination — a primary function of the government to ensure free and fair recruitment to its own services, which was till now being conducted by PSC/government departments — was "jettisoned in favour of an institution that was neither statutory nor independent, nor functioned under well laid out regulations", it points out. This went against well established judicial and constitutional pronouncements, it says.
 
The state government did not take any remedial measures by framing rules/regulations to prevent irregularities even after Vyapam reported some cases of irregularities in conduct of examination.
 
There was no evidence that the government ensured the integrity of IT-based system used in the examination conducted by the board. Early on, the government decided that the audit would not be entrusted to CAG as it was presumed that the 'AG was very busy'. AG was not consulted in the matter.
 
The fund of the board was kept outside government account and it was not subjected to budgetary control of the legislature. The board, however, had no hesitation in transferring Rs 13.75 crore fund to other organisations for activities not connected with Vyapam. (IPA Service)
 
 

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