It's been 12 days since Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal ordered an inquiry into The Indian Express expose on the sale of medical and engineering seats by private colleges controlled by politicians. But in the tradition of most government probes, this one too seems headed for a quiet burial, official sources said. A senior official of the Higher and Technical Education Department also confirmed that there were no orders on conducting a probe. Bhujbal himself admits that he doesn’t know what’s happening to the probe he announced on July 2. ‘‘I had referred the relevant papers to the Technical and Medical-Education Departments,’’ he said. But, Health Minister, Digvijay Khanvilkar told The Indian Express, ‘‘The Health Department hasn’t been told anything.’’ The probe was announced after this paper published a story with the headline ‘Medical seats Rs 27 lakh, soon will be Rs 32 lakh’. Bhujbal was then acting Chief Minister as Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was on foreign tour.
