Unfolding The Infamous VYAPAM SCAM

Author: Aryaa Pandey, Law Centre 1, University of Delhi

Scams are the type of the fraud or a fraudulent act to trick the individual or a group or association to trap them into the trick so that the necessary information , money or any benefits can be gained from them. In this person’s trust and naivity are destroyed. Some of the traits of the scam are deception, manipulation, exploitation of trust , lack of transparency , pressure tactics, monetary or information theft. The current examples of scam are online scam, phone scams , charity and travel scams .
Phishing, online shopping and social media lottery scams are the examples of online scams. Robocalls and banking scams are the examples of the phone scams .
Scam cases are those cases in which  the fraudulent schemes and and business are used to lure the consumers and common people to get them tricked into the fraud so that they could give away their personal information, money , valuables etc. Deception, manipulation and exploitation like means are used in this to get trapped the individuals. Various tactics been used by scammers like false promises, showing the urgency need, emotional appeal and the victims are getting manipulated. The following are the types of the spam cases :-

Financial scams – here the fraudulent means are used to steal the money , wealth and assets like advance fee scheme , ponzi scheme or investment scams.
Online scams- these are conducted through online mode like phishing email, fake online marketplaces , fake online shopping hubs and romance scams etc .
Impersonation scams – scammers pretend to be someone else or any other identity or any govt official to loot and access the private information from victims.
Identity theft – it is illegally obtaining someone’s personal data and information and using it for own benefit.
Payment fraud – these are the scams related to the fake payment methods like fake upi code and fake screenshots.
Advance fee fraud – some payment is demanded in return of the promise of something luring like lottery win or any investment opportunity.
Romance scams – scammers create the fake account through which the fake their romantic feelings to gain the trust of the victims to defraud them easily.
Charity scams – scammers create the fake charity associations to seek the donations and gifts for themselves.
Intellectual property rights – cyber squatting, copyright infringement and other violations are included in it.

The main characteristics of the spam cases are deception, manipulation, exploitation, financial loss and emotional distress.
Since the independence, there has been number of scams and scandals have taken place in India. Some of them have taken a heavy toll on India’s economic, financial, social security. Naming a few here , 2G spectrum, commonwealth games scam , Telgu scam , Satyam scam, IPL scam, Bofors scandal, Harshad Mehta scam , Cobbler scam, Fodder scam , Hawala Scandal are the top cases among all.

However, here we talk about the educational and recruitment related scam. The case is none other than the infamous Vyapam Ghotala of Madhya Pradesh.

VYAPAM SCAM OF 2009

Vyapam scam was a massive admission and recruitment racket running in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Here cheating and corruption took place in the entrance examination and govt job post recruitment. It remained active for years and the initial stage dates back to the nineties . It was fully exposed in 2013.
Politicians, senior and junior govt officials and businesses man all were involved in this. Various persons were employed to to write the answer sheets, plan  the seating arrangements and distribution of the forged answer sheets in the exam hall. These were all the tactics applied in the scam .
‘Vyapam’ is the acronym of vyavasayik pariksha mandal which is also known as Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board. It is an autonomous body responsible for conducting several test in the state. The test include govt recruitment job test and entrance test for higher education . The case was about the thirteen tests conducted by MPEB for the selection. The exams were related to the medical entrances and other government recruitment posts like police personnels , school teachers, dairy department. Every year millions of candidates took the exam. The seating arrangements also in that way organised where the smarter student is seated between the two underserving candidates to allow them to copy. This is called engine bogie system. The underserving candidates bribed the politicians and officials to get them selected with higher ranks. There were around forty unnatural deaths reported. Many deaths were staged road accidents. Custodial deaths also reported. There were always uncertainties in the exam. Many complaints were raised. First FIR was lodged in 2000. And then started many complaints. In 2009 there was a major problem found in Pre Medical Test of state. And the govt has set the committee for the investigation. The report released by the committee and near about hundred were found guilty. Police arrested but many among them died in custody. The large scale of the scam was unfolded in 2013 when twenty of them were arrested in Indore for defrauding in PMT.
They were arrested on the charges of impersonating the candidates sitting for PMT.
The state govt . special task in 2013 which led further interrogations and scrutiny. And the names of many politicians, bureaucrats, officials, racket leaders were comibg font. Upto July 2015, more than two thousand people were arrested. The supreme court transferred the case to the CBI. CBI also proved many guilty.

Undeserving candidates were getting higher marks and selection while deserving ones were left out. The following tricks were applied in the scam, impersonation, copying, manipulation of answer sheets, leaking the answer key .

How the scam was uncovered?
Cases were also reported earlier but no one took the seriousness and everyone saw as the separate cases . The step by step development is as follows: –
2009-2011 – Initial prove by committee was followed. Many irregularities found in MPEB functioning. Many toppers retook the exam and they were asked he reasons for the same. Majority never turned up.
The middle man also charged heavy amount over the candidate.
2013 – the scam was found in MP PMT exam . Students were found impersonating the tbe other ones . Indore police also busted the organised racket .
2013 – Other exams too started proven. Food inspector, subedar sub inspector, milk federation test also came under the scrutiny. Omr sheets were also manipulated. Previous years PMT also investigated.

Investigation

Initial investigation were conducted by the state police City units. Committees also established. Special task force also formed my govt. Special investigation team also had set up . The then chief minister Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan also requested the state high court to order the CBI probe for the case. The supreme court also agreed and the cases were transferred.

Key Arrests

Politicians And Leaders – Lakshmikant sharma, O P Shukla and Sudhir Sharma.
Racket leaders – Dr. Jagdish Sagar ,  Sajerv Shilpakar
Mppeb employees


Allegations

The allegations against the governor Ram Naresh Yadav also made . He was charged with criminal conspiracy in the matters related to the forest guard recruitment. His son was also found the accused in the teachers recruitment. But the controversy aroused when he died mysteriously. He argued and fought for its immunity rights . The court given the protection of arrest but not the proceedings to be stopped.

Allegations were also made against the Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Here the opposition party trapped the CM with that whistleblower accused. Prashant Pandey who himself was an IT consultant and was hired for the same . He accused that the Excel sheets he prepared for keeping the track record of the accused ones , were tempered now. He claimed that many names of senior BJP officials were removed in which Chief minister’s name was also there. Opposition leader Digvijay Singh submitted the affidavit to the SIT claiming that investigators are saving the CM from the case . The SIT took the congnizance and sent the Excel sheets for forensic analysis. The analysis proved that the Excel sheet made by Pandey was not genuine.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the end lashed out the critics for accusing him and stated that his government was the only one who exposed this scam case .

Conclusions

Number of people died during the process of investigation. Moreover their deaths were happened during mysterious circumstance. Special task force also submitted the report to the high court naming home number of people died during the process. The circumstances were suspicious and the deaths were unnatural deaths .

Later on the state government dismissed all the claims and accusations stating that vyapam itself is the big body which is responsible for organising and managing the exams entry level and job level . State’s home minister also claim the deaths as the natural death .

Judgement

The judgement was issued from the court  stating that the fraudulent means and cheating and deception like thing are not tolerable in the eyes of the court. It is also a hurdle in the way of the country’s integrity. The court dismissed the petition by the appellants and held them the culprit and all those who were responsible for running and supporting the racket .

FAQS

What is impersonation?
-Impersonation is actually happens when the one person is pretending to be or proving to be someone else by any of his deeds or any act or any means.

What is engine bogie system?
-It is the system in exam in which the smarter and knowledgeable one is seated between the too undeserving candidates so that the cheating process is more facilitated.

References

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vyapam_scam
https://morungexpress.com/top-10-biggest-indian-scams-all-times