File Photo: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivram Singh Chouhan. (PTI Photo)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that he is considering legal action against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh regarding the latter's charges against him in the exam scam.
On Monday, Mr Singh had filed an affidavit with the Special Investigation Team which is monitoring the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board scam. He alleged that the data retrieved from the laptop of the main accused was tampered to shield the Chief Minister.
"The allegations are false and baseless, this is very lowly of the Congress to do so," Mr Chouhan told NDTV. "They say they have an excel sheet to prove it, but that can be made with any data. Who is going to believe them? I will consult legal experts and based on their suggestion will take legal action against Digvijaya Singh."
The Professional Examination Board holds exams for positions like medical officers, engineers and auditors for the government and candidates allegedly paid bribes to government officials in exchange for not taking the exam, but being listed among those who had cleared the test. The Congress alleges the Chief Minister - who is serving a third consecutive term - is part of the conspiracy.
Along with his affidavit, Mr Singh attached excel sheets containing the details of the exam held in 2011. The list reportedly includes 48 students whom the chief minister allegedly recommended.
Mr Singh contends that to protect the Chief Minister, the data was tampered with by the Special Task Force probing the scam. The STF, he alleged, had replaced Mr Chouhan's name with that of Ms Uma Bharati, who was the chief minister of the state in 2003-2004.
The excel sheets were allegedly retrieved reportedly from the laptop of main accused Nitin Mahindra, the principal systems analyst, who has been arrested. Digvijaya Singh said IT experts can easily reveal how the forgery was managed. "I challenge the Chief Minister to prove me wrong," he added.
Admitting that they had received the affidavit, Chandresh Bhushan, chairman of the SIT said, "It is a new aspect which has been brought to our notice. We are investigating the matter."