Hyderabad: In the backdrop of political furore over multi-crore fake stamp paper scam, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on September 27 urged Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to refer the case for a judicial probe by a sitting judge of Supreme Court.

"In view of the wider ramifications of the issue, I request you to take up the matter with Supreme Court to entrust the case to a sitting judge," he said in a letter to Vajpayee.

The request comes a day after Chief Minister agreed for a judicial probe by a sitting judge of the apex court into the Rs 32,000 crore scam in the state Assembly.

Ever since the arrest of ruling TDP (Telugu Desam Party) legislator and former minister C Krishna Yadav by Maharashtra police for his alleged involvement in the scam, the government was facing a virulent attack from opposition for trying to "cover-up the case and wilful delay in taking the investigations to their logical conclusion".

The issue had rocked monsoon session of the Assembly for three days with the Opposition Congress demanding Naidu's resignation owning moral responsibility for a ‘wave of scams’ that rocked the state for last eight years, the latest one being the fake stamp paper racket.

"The judicial probe by Supreme Court judge can cover all the issues pertaining to printing, circulation, sale and other related issues of fake stamps in view of the linkages and national ramifications," Naidu said in the letter.

PTI