Digvijay Singh's letter to Chief Justice a publicity stunt: MP government

Bhopal, July 4: Criticising Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, Madhya Pradesh government today said the letter he has written to Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice A M Khanvilkar on the MPPEB scam, was just a "publicity stunt".

During a press conference earlier Digvijay Singh told reporters about the letter written to the Chief Justice, in which he has strongly objected to Additional Advocate General Pushpendra Kaurav defending the government in the court on the issue of MPPEB scam.

In the letter, Singh pointed out the "conflict of interest" as Kaurav had earlier represented Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leader V D Sharma in the High Court in cases related to admission in private medical colleges in his capacity as a lawyer and that matter is still sub-judice.

Singh claimed that Kaurav was "rewarded" and appointed as Deputy Advocate General and later as Additional Advocate General because of this and now he is defending the government and the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) in the scam.

However, the Madhya Pradesh ministers - Kailash Vijaywargiya, Bhupendra Singh, Uma Shankar Gupta and Dr Gaurshankar Shejwar held a joint press conference, in which they lashed out at the senior Congress leader. "There is no legality in the letter written by Singh to the Chief Justice. Had he been serious on the issue he would not have issued copies of the letter to the media and would have sent it confidentially. It is just a publicity stunt," Vijaywargiya said.

The ministers contended that in his capacity as AAG, Kaurav has every right to defend MPPEB as it has not committed anything wrong but the officers and employees working in it were involved in the scam.

"MPPEB is a body under the state government and is a state subject as per the constitution. By raising objection against Kaurav, Singh is trying to mislead the the probe as the scam was not committed by MPPEB, but the officers and employees working in it to whom Special Task Force (STF), which is probing the scam, has made the accused," Vijaywargiya claimed.

PTI