File picture of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court will hear a petition today that asks for the removal of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav. It will also take up a bunch of petitions that demand a CBI investigation into the Vyapam scam and the alarming number of deaths of people linked to it.
The petition for the Governor's removal has been moved by a group of lawyers in Madhya Pradesh.
A police document accessed by NDTV shows that Mr Yadav was named as "Accused No 10" in a criminal case in the Vyapam scam. Also that while the Governor's constitutional immunity protected him from investigation, many of the others named with him in the case are now in jail.
The Governor and his son were accused last year of accepting bribes in a First Information Report or FIR by the Special Task Force of the state police that is investigating the Vyapam scam. The High Court ruled that the Governor could not be investigated while in office, but said the police could record his statement.
In March, the Governor's son, Shailesh Yadav, who had not been questioned by investigators, was found dead in Lucknow.
The FIR cited the testimony of Veerpal Singh, who, after being arrested, alleged that he handed over Rs three lakh at the Governor's official residence to Shailesh Yadav on behalf of 10 candidates who wanted to cheat their way through the qualifying exam for government teachers.
The Congress has said that these details necessitate an investigation into the Governor's alleged role. "Is the BJP trying to protect the Chief Minister?" asked Congress leader Digivjaya Singh.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has maintained that big fish have not been protected by the state police's investigation into the Vyapam scam. But "to correct public perception" he said, he has requested that a CBI investigation be ordered.
The Supreme Court will hear four petitions together today for a CBI inquiry. They have been filed by whistleblowers in the Vyapam scam - Ashish Chaturvedi, Anand Rai and Prashant Pandey - and one by Digvijaya Singh, who has also demanded that the top court monitor the investigation.