Vyapam: Court orders FIR against senior Cong leaders

A court here has directed police to register an FIR against senior Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia and an RTI activist on charges of "fabricating evidence" in the Vyapam scam case.

The special court of Additional District Judge Suresh Singh here in Madhya Pradesh issued the order on Wednesday in response to a private complaint filed by advocate Santosh Sharma.

The judge asked police to immediately register an FIR and submit its copy before the court, and also sought the investigation report in the case by November 13.

The Vyapam scam refers to irregularities in exams held by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, also called Vyavasayik Pareeksha Mandal or Vyapam, for admission in professional courses and state services.

Sharma had filed the private complaint in the court Monday, alleging that the Congress leaders and Prashant Pandey, a whistle-blower earlier in the Vyapam issue, were providing false evidence and misguiding the court in this connection.

His complaint came after Digvijay Singh deposed on Saturday in a court here in connection with his private complaint seeking criminal prosecution of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister Uma Bharti and five others in the Vyapam scam.

Singh had deposed for over two hours before judge Suresh Singh of the special court dealing with cases related to MLAs and MPs.

Singh's lawyer Kapil Sibal had then said that the former had submitted the copy of a document connected with the Vyapam scam in which Chouhan's name figures 48 times.

Singh had also submitted documents running into 27,000 pages to accompany his charges, his senior counsel Vivek Tankha had said.

Meanwhile, state Congress spokesman Bhupendra Gupta said a new "disturbing" trend has emerged in Madhya Pradesh, ruled by the BJP since the last 15 years, where the complainants in cases were being booked.