The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday demanded the immediate dismissal of and registration of a criminal case against scheduled caste (SC) and backward classes welfare minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot over his alleged indictment in a Rs 63.91 crore SC Scholarship scam by the principal secretary of the department.

They also demanded an independent probe into the scam even as the minister rejected the media reports over the issue as grossly absurd and unfounded.

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Dharmsot said he was willing to face any enquiry and action even if an iota of truth is found in allegations.

In a statement, senior SAD leaders Bikram Singh Majithia and Pawan Kumar Tinu said Sadhu Dharamsot had played with the future of Dalit children of the state which could not be tolerated at any cost.

“In case the chief minister does not dismiss him immediately and take necessary steps to recover the money looted from the State exchequer the SAD will be constrained to launch an agitation on this issue”.

The SAD leaders said Dharamsot had been found guilty of disbursing Rs 39 crore received from the centre on account of scholarship for SC students to ineligible private institutions.

They said the report, which has been prepared by principal secretary Kripa Shankar Saroj, also detailed how Rs 24.91 Crore from the same Central fund meant for SC students, was given to private institutions following an illegal reaudit.

Giving details, the SAD leaders said the minister signed files by hand bypassing departmental procedures and even objections by the principal secretary were removed from the file.

The senior bureaucrat has indicted the minister along with a deputy director in the case.

Majithia and Tinu said Rs 39 Crore was distributed to ineligible institutions including one in Muktsar which was barred from being disbursed funds under the SC Scholarship scheme by a court.

“The senior bureaucrat has brought it on record that a pick and choose policy was followed and that permission for disbursement of the funds was given by the minister and the deputy director only,” they said adding it was also recorded in the report that the minister and the deputy director signed files directly bypassing departmental procedures.

The AAP said Dharamsot was the mastermind in yet another scam of Rs 63.91 crore in the Centre’s postmatric scholarship scheme and demanded his immediate dismissal.