Admitting that irregularity in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Board (MPPEB) is a blot on the image of the Government, Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan on Wednesday asserted in the Assembly that no one would be spared if found guilty in the case.
While replying to a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor's address, he admitted that 1,000 out of over 1.47 lakh appointments and selections made by MP Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) since 2007 were found fake. "The Special Task Force (STF) is investigating the case and if any single admission was done through forgery, appropriate action would be initiated against the offenders notwithstanding how influential he or she is," he added.
Chouhan said that he came to know about the irregularity in July last year and the Indore police immediately swung into action. The Chief Minister said that till 2007 more than 1.47 lakh students were admitted and out of it, about 1,000 admissions under the MPPEB were done fraudulently and he was hurt that such misconduct took place in his regime which had hampered lives of several students.
Discarding the Opposition's demand of a CBI inquiry into the MPPEB scam, Chouhan reiterated that the STF investigation would reveal the truth and no doubt should be raised against the impartiality of the STF. Dissatisfied with the Chief Minister's reply, the leader of the Opposition Satyadev Katare demanded to keep his point through 'Write to Reply' provision but the Speaker Sitasharan Sharma ruled it out saying there is no provision to comment on the speech on the leader of the House.
The Congress then staged a walkout to protest the Speaker's ruling and after returning to his seat, Katare again tried to speak but the Speaker did not allow him and read out the provision made in the rule book and moreover, factually, the issue is considered over after the walkout is staged on that issue.