Even if the CBI manages to unearth the extent of competitive exam kingpin Ranjit Singh’s clientele, it may not be possible to prosecute the students who paid for seats.The present case is likely to take the course of a 1996 case related to selling of seats in Jamshedpur’s Regional Institute of Technology which involved then Science and Technology Minister in the Rabri Cabinet, Braj Bihari Prasad. All beneficiaries are engineers.When allegations were made about the minister selling RIT seats for Rs 2-4 lakh, the Patna High Court ordered a CBI inquiry into it. The CBI interrogated almost 300 students, but chargesheets were not filed against any.‘‘Some evidence in the form of a trail of money transaction or an eyewitness was necessary to file chargesheets. Though it was apparent from the interrogations, it was difficult to establish that they had actually paid for the seats,’’ sources said.However, chargesheets were filed against the minister and RIT director Lakshmi Rai. Both were arrested and sent to jail in judicial custody. By then, Rai had climbed up the ladder to become the chairman of the Bihar Public Service Commission.
