The Vyapam scam involved 13 different examinations conducted by the Vyapam or the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, for recruitment to government jobs and admissions to educational institutions in the State. In August 2013, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government constituted a Special Task Force to probe the scam. The Central Bureau of Investigation took over in July 2015.
Here’s a time line of the scam:
1982: Vyaysayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam) set up to conduct entrance examinations for professional courses
2008: Recruitment tests for government jobs also included
2009: Medical exam paper leaked; first complaint filed
July 5, 2009: Widespread irregularities in recruitments come to light
December 2009: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan forms panel to probe scam
July 7, 2013: Police register FIR, arrest 20 impersonators
July 16, 2013: Jagdish Sagar, kingpin of scam, arrested
August 26, 2013: STF takes over probe, 55 FIRs registered
October 9, 2013: Admissions of 345 examinees cancelled
December 18, 2013: Ex-Higher Education Minister Laxmikant Sharma booked
June 29, 2015: SIT says 23 people related to scam died due to ‘unnatural causes’| Unofficial count puts figure at 46
July 4, 2015: Journalist Akshay Singh falls ill and dies at Meghnagar near Jhabua town soon after interviewing parents of MBBS student Namrata Damor who was an accused in the scam, and had herself died in suspicious circumstances | He always preferred to work on his story off camera, say friends
July 5, 2015: Arun Sharma, Dean of the Jabalpur-based Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Medical College, found dead in Delhi hotel
July 7, 2015: Shivraj Singh Chouhan agrees to CBI probe
July 8, 2015: AIIMS forms committee to investigate samples of journalist Akshay Singh | Supreme Court agrees to revisit case
July 8, 2015: Police decide to reopen case of Namrata Damor death | Report of the autopsy conducted on the death of the 19-year-old medical student, which said she was strangled, overturned two months later by a “forensic” report, which indicates suicide
July 9, 2015: I exposed Vyapam scam , says Mr. Chouhan in response to demands for his resignation | Supreme Court transfers all cases linked to the Vyapam scam to the CBI for a “fair and impartial” probe | Death of another witness , STF says due to liver ailment
July 11, 2015: RTI documents reveal Mr. Chouhan withheld information on scam from the Vidhan Sabha
July 13, 2015: 40-member CBI team constituted to investigate all Vyapam scam-related cases
July 16, 2015:CBI files cases against 150 of the accused for corruption, fraud, cheating and criminal conspiracy | Congress releases report that shows Minister in Narendra Modi’s team and other RSS leaders in an internal report of alleged beneficiaries | Supreme Court agrees to hear on July 20 the CBI plea that SIT be allowed to file charge sheets in the scam cases
July 17, 2015:BJP suspends leader named in CBI’s FIR | CBI files three fresh cases
July 20, 2015:Supreme Court allows SIT to file charge sheets till matters are transferrred to CBI | CBI registers inquiry into death of pharmacist who was facing STF probe
July 29, 2015: CBI registers case against 18 accused for alleged irregularities in the recruitment of forest guards in 2012 through Vyapam
August 11, 2015: ED action attaching assets of Jagdish Sagar upheld | CBI books three more cases, taking total number to 56
August 22, 2015: CBI registers seven cases against over 1,200 persons for alleged complicity in the scam
August 23, 2015: State denies mala fide intentions behind frequent transfer of whistle-blower Dr. Anand Rai and his wife, Gouri Rai
August 25, 2015: Supreme Court grants CBI request for three weeks time to take charge of 212 cases identified to have links with the scam | Cash, documents found in Vyapam office , raising questions over probe conducted by Special Task Force
September 3, 2015: Whistle-blower Dr. Rai claims Mr. Chouhan tried to broker deal , offers to cancel transfer if campaign against him is withdrawn | Madhya Pradesh High Court asks State government to file an affidavit within a week
September 11, 2015: Supreme Court asks CBI to take over all Vyapam cases , says SIT/STF will cooperate. Court schedules October 9 as date for the CBO to file a status report
September 18, 2015: M.P. government withdraws transfers of Dr. Rai and his wife
August 29, 2015: Vyapam adopts English name to save face
September 7, 2016: Supreme Court declines to intervene on allegations raised by Dr. Rai against apex court-appointed Oversight Committee led by former CJI R.M. Lodha, accusing it of over-stepping its assigned job of monitoring the work of Medical Council of India
November 22, 2016: Former M.P. Governor Ram Naresh Yadav passes away after a prolonged illness . In 2015, the M.P. Special Task Force lodged an FIR against him for rigging forest guard exams conducted by Vyapam
February 13, 2017: Terming their conduct an “act of deceit,” the Supreme Court confirms cancellation of the admission of 634 students to the MBBS course made through Vyapam test between 2008 and 2012
November 26, 2017: CBI writes to the M.P. seeking necessary action against around 200 candidates who did not appear in any entrance exam for admission in the medical colleges
December 21, 2017: CBI has hands over DVDs , instead of hard copies, of its chargesheet to 491 accused in the case related to the Madhya Pradesh Pre-Medical Test 2013
January 16, 2018: CBI files fresh chargesheet against 95 accused in connection with the scam
February 8, 2018: Former Madhya Pradesh Minister Laxmikant Sharma, his OSD and 85 others charged by the CBI for alleged cheating and corruption in the recruitment of Grade-II contractual teachers through Vyapam in 2012
March 22, 2018: CBI arrests J.N. Chouksey , chairman of Bhopal-based L.N. Medical College, in connection with the scam
September 27, 2018: A Special Court directs police to register an FIR against senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia and an RTI activist, on charges of “fabricating evidence” in the scam case
July 28, 2019: Audit report reveals irregularities within Vyapam
