Vyapam Scam Case: CBI Gives Clean Chit to Laxmikant Sharma

The CBI also gave clean chit to seven others, citing lack of evidence in the Vyapam scam case.

Photo used for representation.

(Photo: PTI)

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday, 19 January gave clean chit to eight people, including former Madhya Pradesh Education Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Laxmikant Sharma in Vyapam scam, ANI reported.

According to the report, the investigative agency relieved the eight accused due to lack of evidence in the case.

Sharma was among the 87 accused named in the CBI chargesheet in February, 2018.

On the same day, CBI filed a charge-sheet against 26 persons related in the case. "We have filed a charge-sheet in the court of special CBI judge Suresh Singh," said the central agency's special prosecutor Satish Dinkar to PTI.

“They have been charged with forgery, criminal conspiracy (under the IPC) as well as under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Information Technology Act.”

Suresh Singh, CBI special prosecutor

Dinkar further added that the accused include 19 candidates who allegedly tried to pass the test for transport constable's post by greasing the palms of middlemen and Vyapam officials.

Vyapam scam is related to irregularities in admission and recruitment in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) that involved several politicians, senior officials and businessmen. The case has witnessed over 2,000 arrests since 2013.

The CBI, in October 2017, gave a clean chit to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, striking down senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's allegations.