Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday attempted to create sensation by raising certain issues related to the MP Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam, in the State Assembly premises.
There were a few facts which were misquoted at the press conference including that Addl DG Rajiv Tandon is also looking after the Special Task Force (STF), besides Sudhir Kumar Shahi, who is heading the STF. The Chief Minister had stated in State Assembly that the investigation in the MPPEB scam is being conducted by the honest police officer Shahi, but why then another officer was posted there, Singh asked.
On the contrary, the fact is that Rajiv Tandon is Addl DG in the Crime Investigation Department (CID) branch of the Madhya Pradesh police. A few months ago, he was given additional charge of the STF, when Shahi was on leave for about a week.
Official sources said that this is an administrative procedure that additional charge is given to the other officer.
Similarly, Singh alleged that additional advocate general Purushaindra Kaurav is pleading the cases of STF along with representing the cases of the MP Professional Examination Board. However, legal experts feel that there is nothing wrong in it. While representing the MPPEB, Kaurav is not representing any of the accused in the scam, no matter they were earlier posted in the Board or not.
Similar was the case with another accused Sudhir Sharma, who is absconding and against whom the STF has announced a reward of Rs5,000. Singh alleged that during the IT raids at the residence of Sharma, assets worth over Rs300 crore were recovered, but the reward announced by police is too meager.
However, the fact is that almost everybody, at least former CM, should know that the reward declared by the police on any absconder is not based on his property.
Factually, at the press conference, it was clear that the Congress was not in possession of any valuable documents that could shed light on the MPPEB scam. To a query whether the Congress is in possession of the list of those 19 candidates who, Congress spokesman KK Mishra alleged, belonged to Gondia, hometown of Sadhna Singh, wife of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Digvijay Singh accepted that at present the document is not with his party.
Singh said that he had asked Mishra about the list of those candidates and he told him (Singh) that he has applied for the list under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and soon it would be received.