Even as the death count continues to rise in the Madhya Pradesh Vyapam scam, the Supreme Court on Thursday finally transferred all Vyapam scam cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court also issued a notice to the agency over monitoring the probe, seeking a response within two weeks.
A decision on Supreme Court monitoring the probe will be taken during the next hearing on July 24.
This came after the Attorney General, representing the Madhya Pradesh government, told the apex court that the state government was open to a CBI probe.
Reacting to the decision, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur said, "We welcome the decision for a CBI probe. Justice will be done and the truth will come out now." Gaur, however, refrained from commenting on the issue of removal of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, saying the matter was sub-judice.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, continued to rally behind Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, saying the leader's stand on the issue had been endorsed by the Supreme Court.
On a query on the demand for Chouhan's resignation for "a fair probe", BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said it was like "asking for the resignation of the whistleblower himself".
The Congress, meanwhile, stepped up its demand for the Chief Minister's resignation. Talking to mediapersons, party spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said that it was essential for Chouhan to step down for a fair and independent probe.
Earlier, a whistleblower and a petitioner in the case, Anand Rai, said that the Supreme Court should monitor the CBI probe as there was BJP government at both Centre as well as the state.
The apex court decision came as it heard pleas seeking a Supreme-Court monitored probe into the high-profile Vyapam scam.
Lashing out at the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the Supreme Court said that it was washing its hands off the investigation into the high-profile scam.
According to the Supreme Court, the High Court could have ordered a CBI probe into the scam, asking it to not proceed further in the Vyapam matter.
This came a day after the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court deferred the decision on a plea seeking CBI probe till July 20, saying it would wait for the Supreme Court decision on the same.
Embattled Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is in the national capital, had said that he would request the Supreme Court to monitor a CBI investigation into the Vyapam scam.
The state government had earlier maintained that there was no need for a CBI probe into the case, expressing full faith on the probe conducted by the Madhya Pradesh High Court-monitored Special Task Force (STF).
The Centre had also echoed the stand of the Madhya Pradesh government, with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying the government could not direct a CBI probe. He had also said that there was "no point in handing over the ongoing probe to CBI at this juncture".
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