MP High Court rejects pleas seeking CBI probe into MPPEB scam

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has rejected a bunch of petitions seeking a CBI probe into the MP Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam.

A total of 14 petitions, demanding investigation by the central agency into the scam were filed in the High Court pertaining to irregularities in selection/ appointments made by MPPEB with alleged connivance of officials and politicians in the Pre-Medical Test, Pre-PG Test and for number of government jobs including recruitment of teachers.

The pleas were rejected by the bench in Jabalpur on Wednesday.

The petitioners contended that since high-profile persons including Ministers and bureaucrats were involved in it, MP Police's Special Task Force (STF) which is probing the case at present will not be able to act impartially as it is directly under the state government and therefore it should be conducted by the CBI.

However, the bench of Chief Justice A M Khanvilkar and Justice K K Trivedi rejected the demand on the ground that it is not like that STF is not arresting people deliberately.

But the court also suo motu took cognizance in the matter and said that it will keep a watch on the STF probe in the scam and directed the registry to file a separate petition on the issue.

The court also directed the Tikoganj Police Station in Indore (where it was unearthed) to handover the probe related to the scam to the STF following registration of FIR in 2011 in the matter.

Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh have been demanding the handing over of the case to CBI for long and have also filed a petition on the issue.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had admitted in the state Assembly on January 15 that 1,000 out of the over 1.47 lakh appointments and selections made by MPPEB since 2007 were found to be fake.

He had stated that those found guilty will not be spared irrespective of his/her position.

The scam was unearthed in 2009 and the MPPEB had last year disqualified those students who had been identified by the probe agencies and allegedly benefited from irregularities in the entrance examination.

The STF has filed FIRs against 130 people including former State Higher Education Minister Laxmikant Sharma, who has been linked to irregularities in selection of teachers.