Indore CBI court jails 10 in Vyapam Patwari Exam scam:Accused guilty of cheating, impersonation in 2008 recruitment; sentenced to 5 years imprisonment

A special CBI court in Indore on Tuesday convicted and sentenced 10 accused to five years of rigorous imprisonment each, in a Vyapam scam case related to impersonation and cheating in the Patwari Recruitment Examination, 2008. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 on each convict. Background of the Vyapam scam The Vyapam scam, one of Madhya Pradesh’s largest recruitment and entrance examination scandals, came to light over a decade ago and involved large-scale manipulation of examinations conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (Vyapam). The scam exposed a network of impersonation, forged documents and illegal selections in recruitment and entrance exams for government posts and professional courses. Following nationwide outrage and multiple allegations, the Supreme Court transferred the probe of Vyapam-related cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Case linked to Patwari Recruitment Exam 2008 The present case pertains specifically to the Patwari Recruitment Examination conducted in 2008. Investigators found that several candidates had secured selection by submitting forged certificates and documents and, in some cases, by impersonation, thereby cheating the examination system and depriving genuine candidates of government jobs. Who are the convicted The court convicted Rameshwar, Rakesh, Devendra, Chetan, Balram, Harpal, Gopal, Jitendra, Dinesh and Digvijay Singh Solanki, all of whom were charge-sheeted in the case. How the case was registered The case was initially registered as FIR on October 26, 2012, at Kotwali police station in Khargone district. After conducting a preliminary investigation, the Khargone police filed charge sheet on May 28, 2014, before the competent court, detailing the alleged use of forged certificates and documents in the recruitment process. CBI probe following Supreme Court direction In compliance with directions issued by the Supreme Court, the FIR was subsequently transferred to the CBI as part of the larger Vyapam investigation. The agency took over further investigation, examined documentary evidence, and pursued prosecution against the accused before the CBI court in Indore. Trial and verdict After a full-fledged trial, the CBI court held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges of cheating, impersonation and use of forged documents. The court convicted all 10 accused and sentenced them to five years of rigorous imprisonment each, along with a fine of Rs 3,000.