It was claimed to be a case of suicide but allegations were made that it was a case of murder. Even at that time some persons alleged involvement of Digvijay Singh and his brother Laxman Singh. After the recent demand of CBI probe Digvijay stated that after the tragic death of Sarla Mishra he in his capacity as the Chief Minister recommended probe by the CBI. But the central government headedly by AtalBihari Vajpayee did not accept the state's recommendation.

The Chief Minister and the BJP are also digging out several cases of irregular appointments by Digvijay Singh. Already a case against Digvijay Singh and the then speaker SriniwasTiwari have been filed in the police thana accusing Singh and Tiwari of making several appointments in the VidhaSabha secretariat. Tiwari sought anticipatory bail to prevent his likely arrest in the case.

Yet another case of irregular appointment by Digvijay Singh has come to the light. This time the case came up in the High Court. The case is related to an irregular appointment by Digvijay when he was chief minister.

Amidst the furore over Vyapam scam, in a judgment which may have wide ramification, the Jabalpur High Court, on Thursday, cancelled the appointment of a sub-engineer in the Water Resources Department, made on the basis of the then Chief Minster Digvijay Singh's note-sheet in 1999 and directed the Chief Secretary to cancel all irregular appointments made and submit a compliance report within four months.

The judgment came on a petition filed in 1999 by MansukhlalSaraf, a resident of Rewa, challenging the appointment of one Arun Kumar Tiwari as sub-engineer in the Water Resources Department. A double-bench, comprising Chief Justice AM.Khanwilkar and Justice K.K. Trivedi delivered the judgment.

Interestingly, in 1990, Tiwari was appointed on daily wages as a sub-engineer in the Nagar Panchayat, Mauganj, DistrictRewa. His services were regularised in 1995 which was challenged in the HC by the same petitioner (MansukhlalSaraf). The court, on September 11, 1997, declared his regularisation null and void and ordered that he would continue to work as a daily wager. Subsequently, Tiwari was appointed as a sub-engineer in Water Resources department. The order was issued 'without there being any application by the respondent number one on his own by the then Chief Minister on Sep 27, 1997'. The decision was approved by the Cabinet on May 5, 1998. 'Notably, no reason is recorded, much less a special reason as to why the appointment of ArunTiwari was so essential or indispensable, either by the then Chief Minister or by the Cabinet of Ministers', the court said, adding that the new order was '...a clear case of colourable exercise of power, to favour the respondent No. 1 and also to undermine the authority of the Court'.

The petitioner again challenged this appointment in 1999. The HC ordered the petition to be converted into a PIL, which was kept pending due to 'non-service of notice on Tiwari till May 2011 (for 12 years) and for non-filling of reply-affidavit by the State till April, 2014 (for 15 years).'
The court said, 'By this pronouncement, we declare that all appointments made in similar manner (without following the selection process prescribed by the relevant recruitment rules), in breach of statutory rules, be treated as non-est in the eye of law from its inception and would stand annulled forthwith'.

It said that, 'The Chief Secretary of the State of Madhya Pradesh shall call upon the Secretary of the respective departments of the State, to enquire into whether any employee in his Department has been or was appointed on regular basis without following the selection process prescribed in the relevant rules framed after coming into force of such rules; and to proceed against all such persons as also against the person(s) responsible for making such appointment, in accordance with law; and submit report in that behalf to the Chief Secretary of the State of Madhya Pradesh within four months from today. The Chief Secretary of the State of Madhya Pradesh must then initiate necessary proposal for issuance of a general Government order or on case to case basis, to formally revoke all such illegal appointments made in similar manner without following the selection procedure prescribed by the relevant recruitment rules'.

Mansukhlal, whose petition led to the cancellation of appointment made on Dgivijay Singh's note-sheet after 16 years, said that ArunTiwari is husband of a Congress leader and former District Panchayat President ManjulataTiwari. According to Mansukhlal, Digvijay appointed Tiwari at the behest of former Assembly Speaker ShriniwasTiwari.

Meanwhile the state government is continuing to mount pressure on the Vyapam scandal whistleblowers. The latest victim of the government's tactics is Dr. AnandRai. Dr. Rai is a government Doctor. His wife is also a Doctor in the government service. AnandRai is one of the key whistleblowers in the multi layered scam involving multiple rackets which helped candidates buy seats in medical courses and government jobs. Both Dr. Rai and his wife Dr. Gauri were transferred. Dr. Rai termed this step as an attempt to demoralise him. Both Anand and Gauri challenged their transfer and filed a petition in the High Court seeking their cancellation.

The Madhya Pradesh high court on Thursday stayed the transfers of a Vyapam scam whistleblower and his wife who had accused the Shivraj Singh Chauhan government of targeting them for exposing the state's biggest scandal in recent times.

A division bench comprising justices PK Jaiswal and TK Kaushal also directed the state to file a detailed reply in the specific allegations of 'mala fide intentions' made by AnandRai and wife Gauri, both government doctors, During the course of the hearing on Thursday, advocate general Sunil Jain said that the couple was transferred to the same location as per the government's transfer policy.

Meanwhile the CBI has filed many cases in the court again the people involved in the scam. (IPA Service)