SC notice to Centre, MP govt on pleas for CBI probe in DMAT

The alleged irregularities in the results of the Dental and Medical Admission Test (DMAT) to in Madhya Pradesh was bigger than the Vyapam scam, the Supreme Court was told on Thursday.

The alleged irregularities in the results of the Dental and Medical Admission Test (DMAT) to in Madhya Pradesh was bigger than the Vyapam scam, the Supreme Court was told on Thursday.

The apex court was taking note of two petitions seeking a CBI inquiry into the test. A bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu sought response from the Centre, MP government and the central prosecuting agency, asking them to file their response to the pleadings within four weeks. At the outset of the hearing, the bench was reluctant to entertain the petitions. It asked the petitioners’ counsel, senior advocate Kapil Sibal and Prashant Bhushan to approach the high court. But it relented later after the two asserted the scam was as big as Vyapam.

Apprising the top court of the details on cheating in DMAT exams as divulged by its controller, Bhushan told court that seats in all private medical colleges were filled through either DMAT or Vyapam.

“The seat distribution in private dental and medical college is in ratio of 42:43:15 for state quota, management quota and NRI quota respectively, the plea said. While the state quota of 42% is filled through Vyapam which is already part of the CBI probe, the management seats are filled up through DMAT conducted by the Association of Private Dental and Medical Colleges (APDMC),” Bhushan told court.

After hearing the submissions, SC also sought responses on another PIL of another whistle-blower Ashish Chaturvedi seeking direction to CBI to register criminal cases and “conduct a thorough” probe into DMAT scam.