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Vyapam scam: Chouhan buckles under pressure, seeks CBI probe

July 7, 2015

Bhopal, Jul 7: After resolutely rejecting calls for a CBI probe, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today decided to seek an investigation into the murky Vyapam scam by the central agency on a day the Supreme Court agreed to hear petitions in this regard.Shivraj chauhan copy

Following Chouhan's announcement at a press conference, the state government moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking its direction for institution of a CBI probe into the massive admission and recruitment scam.

"We have filed a plea in the High Court seeking a CBI probe into the Vyapam scam," Additional Advocate General P Kaurav said.

Under intense opposition attack and mounting public outrage over a string of deaths of people associated with Vyapam, a beleagured Chouhan, a third time chief minister, announced his decision to recommend to the high court a CBI inquiry.

"Loktantra lok lajja se chalta hai (public perception is important in democracy). Honouring public sentiments, I will request the high court for a CBI probe," Chouhan said, adding "the functioning of the government should be beyond any doubt."

"I have full respect for both High Court and the Supreme Court and have total faith in the ongoing probe into the Vyapam scam," he told a hurriedly convened press conference in Bhopal.

In a related development, the Supreme Court today agreed to hear on July 9 the plea of Congress leader Digvijay Singh and three whistleblowers seeking an apex court-monitored CBI probe into the scam.

Singh, a former MP chief minister, and whistleblowers -- Ashish Chaturvedi, Anand Rai and Prashant Pandey -- have also moved the apex court seeking a CBI probe under its supervision.

As Chouhan buckled under all round pressure to go for a CBI probe, a day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh ruled it out in the absence of a direction from the court, Congress dismissed the move, insisting merely an investigation by the premier agency would not suffice and that it should be monitored by the Supreme Court.

"Latest decision of Shivraj to write to High Court for CBI probe is another attempt to muzzle the truth. Congress rejects it in toto. For a fair probe and justice to victims, Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe is the answer," Congress's communication department chief Randeep Surjewala said in Delhi.

Party leader Digvijay Singh criticised the Prime Minister for his silence on the issue.

"The Prime Minister remains mum in the country, he only tweets about what is happening in Tunisia, Algeria," he said.

Singh, who has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe in the scam, said he would request the apex court to monitor the probe on a weekly basis as in case of the 2G scam. "The needle of suspicion points at the chief minister," he added.

CPI(M) too echoed Congress' views and supported an SC-monitored CBI probe.

It Labelled the Vyapam episode as the "most dangerous cocktail of corruption and crime" and demanded that Chouhan step down until a probe into the "sordid" scam got over.

"We hear now that the Chief Minister (is) saying that they are not opposing any CBI enquiry. We are now saying whether they oppose or not oppose, there should be (a) thorough CBI enquiry supervised by SC into the sordid affair.

"The Chief Minister should demit office till the enquiry is completed," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

The BJP, however, hailed Chouhan's announcement and hit back at the Congress for playing "politics of death" and said a thorough probe will "expose and corner" the opposition party.

"BJP was absolutely clear in its intention that we wanted probity of highest order, we wanted probe by highest body and this was articulated by none other than Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Shivraj Singh Chauhan has also said so," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

Chouhan was under mounting pressure from opposition parties, particularly the Congress to order a CBI probe following the death of Arun Sharma, the dean of a Jabalpur medical college probing the scandal on Sunday in Delhi, a day after Akshay Singh, a journalist of the TV Today group on the Vyapam scam trail, mysteriously died minutes after he had interviewed the parents of a deceased girl accused.

At least five people associated with Vyapam, including Sharma and Singh, have died under mysterious circumstances in the last one week.

The opposition has claimed nearly 45 people linked to the scandal in some manner have died so far though the official figures put the "unnatural deaths" at 25.

Noting that the developments in the case demanded fair answers, Chouhan said,"I thought about the matter the whole night...The questions which have been raised need answers. It has become necessary now that CBI investigates the case."

Asked if he wanted the CBI probe to cover cases of unnatural deaths as well, he said the agency should probe "all aspects".

Asked to comment on Congress' demand for an SC-monitored investigation by CBI, the Chief Minister said,"I am ready... some friends have moved the honourable Supreme Court... HC has monitored it, now let SC do that, I am ready."

He accused Digvijay Singh of "hitting below the belt" by making "unfounded allegations" after repeatedly losing in elections.

Chouhan's announcement of a CBI probe surprised many as Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had yesterday said the state government cannot order a CBI probe into the scam.

"SIT probe into the scam is on, and the government cannot direct the High Court or the Supreme Court on the issue," he said in Jhabua yesterday, noting the MP High Court and the Supreme Court had already rejected PILs seeking a CBI inquiry.

"If the Supreme Court or the High Court feels that the probe is not perfect to the extent it should be, then it will give directions and the government will immediately accept it and hand over the matter to the CBI," he had said.

Meanwhile, Chandresh Bhushan, a retired high court judge heading the Special Investigating Team monitoring the ongoing investigation in the scam by MP police's Special Task Force, said the Vyapam deaths were "not mysterious" but "abnormal".

"As of today, nothing has been brought forth by STF that these deaths are related to the scam," he said, rubbishing suggestions that SIT was under pressure from the state's BJP government. "We don't act under pressure," he said.

As the opposition kept up its attack on Chouhan over the scam and Modi for his silence on the issue, in potentially controversial remarks Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda termed the scandal as a "silly issue" on which the Prime Minister need not comment.

"See, certain issues which are so simple issues, so silly issues that need not be answered by the Prime Minister. Our Home Minister (Rajnath Singh), ministers of concerned departments and even my party (BJP) president Amit Shah have answered everything. For each and every silly issue Prime Minister has to answer. It is not fair," he said.

Gowda, however, later said he had referred to the Lalit Modi controversy and not the Vyapam scandal.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Kolkata, Jan 15: The arrows of Mahabharata's Arjuna had atomic power, claimed West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, drawing sharp criticism from academicians, even as he joined a long list of politicians who have in recent years given bizarre interpretations linking mythology with science.

Speaking at the 45th Eastern India Science Fair and 19th Science and Engineering Fair on Tuesday, Dhankhar also claimed that flying objects existed during the period of Ramayana.

"It is said that the plane was invented in 1910 or 1911, but if we delve into our old scriptures we will see in Ramayana, we had 'uran khatola' (aircraft)," he said.

"Sanjaya narrated the entire war of Mahabharata (to Dhitarasthra) not from TV. The arrows of Arjuna in Mahabharata had atomic power in it," Dhankhar said, asserting that the world can no longer afford to ignore India.

According to Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, Sanjay, even after staying away from the battlefield, had narrated what was happening there to Dhritarashtra, who was blind.

Dhankhar, who has been in news for clashes with the Mamata Banerjee government ever since he assumed office in July last year, joins politicians such as Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb and UP deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma to give odd interpretations of mythology.

While Deb had claimed that the internet existed during Mahabharata, Sharma suggested that godess Sita was a test tube baby.

Recently, Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi was trolled online for sharing a doctored video that claimed, "NASA recorded sound of sun -- Sun chants Om".

Indologist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri said governors appointed by the BJP government at the Centre are delving into everything and behave "as if they are know-alls".

"They fail to understand one thing that great writers have very strong power of imagination," Bhaduri said.

Scientist Sandip Chakraborty said such comments only hurt the scientific progress in India at the global forum.

"The ancient writers described all these things based on their imagination. It is true that India made a lot of progress during the ancient period, but such comments only damages the progress made by our scientific community," he said.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Kochi, Jul 30: The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant the extension for the stay of a 74-year-old US citizen, Johnny Paul Pierce, who had earlier said that he felt safer to remain in India than in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The single-judge bench of Justice CS Dias, which considered the writ petition, observed that the grant or extension of visa to foreign nationals fall exclusively within the domain of the Government of India (GoI) and that judicial review in such matters is minimal.

The power of the GoI to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited, the bench said.

"In view of the categoric declaration of law by the Supreme Court, the plea of the petitioner to permit him to stay back in India cannot be accepted, as it falls within the purview of the guidelines and the discretion of the Government of India," the order said.

"The petitioner cannot be heard that the guidelines/policies/regulations formulated by the Government of India, that an American national though has been granted a visa having validity of five years has to leave India within 180 days, is irrational or unreasonable," it added.

The High Court, which was hearing a plea to permit the US citizen to stay in India for a further period of six months, said that the petitioner does not have a case that there is an infraction of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"The petitioner was well aware of the visa conditions when he arrived in India, and it is too late in the day for him to raise a grievance on the visa conditions," the bench said noting that the petitioner's love for India was heartening.

The High Court also directed the Foreigners Registration Officer to consider the petitioner's representation within a period of two weeks in accordance with the applicable guidelines and policies.

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News Network
May 23,2020

New Delhi, May 23: Carrying a sack full of belongings and a backpack on shoulders daily wager Mohammed Sunny and his friend Mohammed Danish are determined to reach home for Eid in Bihar's Araria district, facing all odds stacked up against them.

Shahjehanpur native Adesh Singh with his wife and three little children, who left their residence in south Delhi three days ago, are still scrambling to reach home, haggling with taxi drivers, to take them to their home town charging a reasonable fare.

This was among the many scenes of migrants' life on Friday at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border touching Ghazipur in east Delhi who are struggling to make their way to their native places amid a COVID-19-induced lockdown across the country.

"We left home three days ago near Chhatarpur, we have walked and rested by roadsides, people gave us food on the way, so we survived. Now, we just want to reach home, we can't survive in Delhi," Manju Singh, wife of Adesh Singh told PTI as she waited at the UP Gate to get a taxi to cross the border on way to her home.

Their three children Alok (12), Ankesh (8) and Rupali (9), all wearing simple masks, were seen squatting on the roadside beside their luggage as their wearied parents, using cloths to cover their nose and mouth, bargained with taxi drivers to take them home, without charging much above the regular fare, saying they "did not have much cash left".

Police personnel could be seen asking many migrants who were marching on foot towards the inter-state border, to turn back.

Many did, but not Sunny and Danish, who feel if "Allah wants us to reach home, we surely will".

Both of them worked at a chemical plant in Delhi, and said, they have been "kicked out" after the lockdown was imposed, making their survival difficult in the national capital.

"We don't have money to pay rent now, or buy food, we have to go home now, what option do we have," Sunny said.

Danish alleged that the poor have been "abandoned" by the government and left in the lurch.

"The government has money to bring home Indians stranded abroad, but can't take home the Indians who have been toiling hard all these years. Is it fair to us," he asked.

"But, Inshallah, we will reach home if the Almighty wants us to, and will be joining our family for Eid, though it will hardly be a celebration this time. But, we want the comfort of being with our family at least," Sunny said.

Eid which marks the end of the holy Ramzan month, will be celebrated either on Sunday or Monday, depending on sighting of the moon.

Lakhs of migrant labourers stranded away from home in Delhi and other big cities have been attempting to reach home in the last two months, a large number of them walking on foot after they found no mode of conveyance.

The coronavirus death toll in Delhi has mounted to 208, while 660 fresh cases of COVID-19 infection reported on Friday, the highest single-day spike here, took the total in the city to 12,319.

Roshan Shrivastav (19), his nephew Shivam Shrivastav (19) and friend Prince Gupta (21), all hailing from Siwan in Bihar, were seen standing on a pavement after being told by the police to turn back from the barricade posted bear the Delhi-UP border.

"We live together in Baljeet Nagar in West Delhi, in a single room. I had come from Bihar after Holi, seeking a job, but then I got stuck in lockdown here without a job. Whatever money I had brought, and Rs 10,000 our parents had sent online, all has got exhausted in these three months," Roshan lamented.

"Our landlord has been very kind, and didn't even ask for any rent after the lockdown, but how long can we survive on charity. And, I don't like being dependent on someone, so we want to go home," he said.

Roshan said, he and Shivam, both also write and sing songs in Hindi and their native tongue Bhojpuri.

"We have written a few lines on lockdown crisis too -- 'Hum mazdooran ke ghar bhejwa da sarkar, nahin to ketna log hiyan par ho jai bimar' (please send us home or else many would fall sick here)," Shivam said, as he stood in scorching heat of May, carrying his leftover cash in pocket and hope in heart. 

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