The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Special Task Force (STF) of Madhya Pradesh Police to go ahead with prosecution in Vyapam cases to ensure that there is no hiatus till the cases are completely shifted to CBI.

A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu asked the STF to take appropriate steps in accordance with the law till the time it can decide on the CBI’s application seeking some more time to take over the cases relating to the alleged irregularities in conducting the MP Professional Education Board Exam (Vyapam).

Fixing the next hearing on Friday, the bench noted that different cases involving 245 accused were going to be impacted this week and hence an interim order was necessary.

The order came after Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the CBI, sought modification of the July 13 order by the court, handing over the Vyapam investigation to the agency. Kumar said the CBI would take nearly six weeks to take over the probe and till then the STF should be directed to carry out prosecution so that the accused don’t get bail due to delay in filing chargesheets and there is no legal lacuna in carrying out prosecution before the trial courts.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, representing the state government, said it had no problem in continuing with prosecution in the cases till the CBI’s plea is decided.

Appearing for petitioners, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and a bunch of lawyers, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising opposed the CBI’s request, stating that granting the agency indefinite time for taking over the probe would dilute the court order. “We don’t care if some people come out on bail because of the time taken by the CBI in taking over the probe but the STF cannot be allowed to investigate and prosecute Vyapam anymore. If STF is allowed to investigate, what is the point of the order by this court on July 13?” Sibal said.

However, the bench said it would allow the STF to carry out prosecution as per the law in respect of 245 accused persons and permitted Sibal to file their formal response on the CBI’s plea, which would be heard Friday.

The CBI on Monday registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) into the suspicious death of Vijay Singh Patel who was found dead in a lodge in Kanker in Chhattisgarh.

CBI begins Probe into another death

Patel, who belonged to Chaukhada village in Rewa district, was a pharmacist attached to Shajapur jail in Madhya Pradesh. An accused in the Vyapam scam, he was arrested in 2014 and released on bail after few months. His body was found in the lodge on April 28. Suspended after his arrest, he was trying to set up some business when he was found dead. His wife is a teacher in Charama, Chhattisgarh, and he had spent few days with her before he left for Bhopal on April 16 to attend the court hearing in Bhopal. The Kanker police had said that his death was natural and they did not find anything suspicious.ENS

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