Vyapam scam: Examinations for private medical college seats under SC scanner

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued another notice to the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh, formally seeking its views on two other petitions demanding Central Bureau of Investigation probe into irregularities in admissions to private medical colleges under separate examinations, in which also the scam-hit Vyapam is alleged to have played a role.

The apex court expressed concern after petitioners in the Vyapam scam also told the court that admissions to private medical colleges were not being done on merit under DMAT and that seats, particularly under management quota, were sold for anywhere between Rs15 lakh and Rs1.5 crore per seat.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justices Arun Kumar Mishra and Amitava Roy, issued notices on a petitions filed by whistleblowers Anand Rai and Ashish Chaturvedi against irregularities at the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, popularly known as Vyapam (its Hindi acronym).,

After hearing short arguments on the plea for a CBI probe into Vyapam's role in private college admission, the court issued the notices and sought replies from the state government and the CBI within two weeks.

The petitions had come up for hearing earlier before the same bench during the hearing on Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board or its Hindi acronym Vyapam, but were put off for a separate hearing.

Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan argued Rai's case while senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising represented Chaturvedi. They were assisted by lawyers VK Chopra and Vaibhav Srivastava

Meanwhile, the STF, which had been probing the case before the court ordered its transfer to the CBI sought the SC's permission to file more charges, as according to the state agency, CBI will take time to file charges in the case.