All eyes on SC as 6 petitions on Vyapam scam get ready for hearing

NEW DELHI: All eyes will be on the Supreme Court on Thursday when six petitions related to the Vyapam scam come up for hearing.

A battery of high-profile lawyers will be fielded to argue for an investigation into the scam by the CBI which should be monitored by the apex court and the removal of Madhya Pradesh governor Ram Naresh Yadav for his alleged role in the irregularities.

Among the lawyers are former law minister and Congress leader Kapil Sibal, legal activist and former additional solicitor general Indira Jaising, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan and senior advocate Vivek Tankha.

Two petitions coming up in the court of Chief Justice HL Dattu have been filed by whistleblower Sanjay Shukla seeking the removal of governor Yadav. Two petitions, filed by digital forensic specialist and whistleblower Prashant Pandey and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, challenge the April 24 High Court order, which rejected evidence by Pandey as doctored. The other petitions have been filed by whistleblowers Ashish Chaturvedi and Anand Rai seeking an investigation into the alleged scam for admissions into dental and medical colleges and the 40-odd related deaths.

Sibal will lead the arguments in all the writ petitions, while Singhvi will argue on the petitions filed by Pandey and Chaturvedi. Jaising is expected to take up the petitions seeking the governor’s removal, while Bhushan will hold forth on the writ petition filed by Rai.

The key legal strategy, decided after meetings through the week, will be to seek the transfer of the Vyapam scam probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation under supervision of the Supreme Court. The arguments are likely to highlight how the Jabalpur high court praised the investigation by the special task force, which is now facing all-round criticism.

There has been a spate of deaths related to the Vyapam admissions and recruitment scam, following which Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said this week that he would request the state high court to let the CBI probe the irregularities.