BHOPAL: A local court Saturday recorded the statement of Congress leader Digvijay Singh in connection with his private complaint against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister Uma Bharti and five others in the Vyapam scam.
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.
Singh deposed for over two hours before Judge Suresh Singh of the Special Court dealing with the cases related to MLAs and MPs.
The former MP chief minister was assisted by senior lawyer and former Union minister Kapil Sibal, senior counsel and Congress leader Vivek Tankha, among other advocates.
In his plea, Singh has sought criminal prosecution of Chouhan, Bharti and five others in the Vyapam scam.
"Digvijay Singh has submitted the copy of a document connected with the Vyapam scam in which Chouhan's name figures 48 times," Sibal told reporters after the court appearance.
He claimed that earlier the state Special Task Force (STF), and now the the CBI, are saving those involved in the scam, especially Chouhan.
Tankha said that Singh submitted documents running into 27,000 pages to accompany his charges. Earlier, the STF had investigated the scam.
In 2016, the Supreme Court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the Vyapam scam.
The central agency had given Chouhan a clean chit in the case. Sibal Saturday alleged that Chouhan was the root of the scam.
"With Digvijay Singh's private complaint, we are going to prove Chouhan's involvement in the scam," he said.