MP: CBI protecting CM Shivraj in Vyapam scam, says Sibal

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Sunday alleged the Central Bureau of Investigation was protecting Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the multi-layered Vyapam scam.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Sunday alleged the Central Bureau of Investigation was protecting Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the multi-layered Vyapam scam.

Kapil Sibal addressing during a talk show on "Constitution and patriotism" organised in Bhopal on Sunday. (Mujeeb Faruqui/ HT photo)

The multi-crore cash-for-jobs scam in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, abbreviated in Hindi as Vyapam, has resulted in unexplained deaths of key accused and witnesses. The CBI is investigating the scam.

Sibal told reporters that the CBI had not done much in the case. “(The) CBI is protecting the chief minister. There is no doubt in that. Otherwise, why is it (CBI) silent on the tape we gave it. The tape is authentic, but no arrests have been made on the basis of the names it contains,” he said.

In 2015, the Congress had submitted a copy of the “original excel sheet” allegedly linking Chouhan to the scam, along with a copy of the purportedly tampered excel sheet which the special task force investigating the scam had filed before the Madhya Pradesh high court.

Referring to the arrest warrant issued against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in the allegedly fraudulent appointments made in the Vidhan Sabha between 1993 and 2003, when Singh was the chief minister, Sibal said: “Naturally those who are sitting in the Opposition will be while gheroed, while those who are in power, who are involved in the scams, will be protected by the CBI.”