Delhi HC orders security to Vyapam whistleblower

New Delhi, March 26 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the city police to evaluate the security of the Vyapam scam whistleblower who alleged that Madhya Pradesh Police and the intelligence department were threatening him.

Justice Siddharth Mridul, while disposing of the whistleblower's plea for protection, asked Delhi Police to evaluate his security and take necessary steps if needed.

The court earlier granted protection to the whistleblower.

The court also took note of the undertaking given by the Special Task Force (STF) that it does not want to interrogate the man claiming to be the whistleblower who had linked the admission and recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh to "people related to the family of the chief minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan)".

Justice Mridul also directed that a copy of the evidence submitted by the whistleblower in a sealed cover to the registrar-general of the Delhi High Court be submitted to the registrar-general of the Jabalpur High Court in Madhya Pradesh.

Filing the petition in the high court under the name of Mr. X, the whistleblower, a computer expert (digital forensic engineer) by profession, alleged that while working for the STF during the probe into the Vyapam scam, he became privy to certain information, which, according to him, was damaging to highly-placed individuals within the government and administration in Madhya Pradesh.

The scam involves massive irregularities and corruption in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or MP Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam).