Rajasthan HC reserves order on bail pleas in JJM scam

Jaipur, Aug 5 (AHN) The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on the bail applications of seven accused, including former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi, in the alleged Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam case after hearing detailed arguments from both the defence and the prosecution. Justice Chandra Prakash Shrimali concluded the hearing and reserved the matter for orders.

During the proceedings, counsel representing Mahesh Joshi, former Additional Chief Secretary Subodh Agrawal and other accused argued that the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) had already acted against the companies in question by blacklisting them and withholding payments immediately after complaints were received, even before the FIR was registered.

The defence contended that Joshi’s arrest was unwarranted, pointing out that although he remained in custody for nearly seven months in a separate Enforcement Directorate (ED) case, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) neither interrogated nor arrested him during that period.

It was further argued that the ACB initiated a preliminary inquiry before obtaining the Governor’s mandatory sanction and claimed there was no documentary evidence establishing any illegal demand or gratification.

The defence also submitted that the alleged forged certificates had been used before Joshi became Public Health Engineering Minister and before Agrawal assumed charge as Additional Chief Secretary.

According to the defence, the PHED floated around 140 tenders under the Jal Jeevan Mission, of which only four were awarded during the tenures of Joshi and Agrawal.

Opposing the bail pleas, Additional Advocate General Rajesh Chaudhary, appearing for the state, argued that the investigation had uncovered evidence suggesting that the proprietors of the two companies, Padamchand Jain and Mahesh Mittal, exercised significant influence over administrative decisions within the PHED.

According to the prosecution, intercepted telephone conversations recorded by the ACB indicated that the two businessmen allegedly knew as early as June 20, 2023, who would chair a proposed high-powered committee to examine the matter.

The committee was constituted four days later under the same official, which the prosecution argued pointed to irregularities at the ministerial and bureaucratic levels aimed at benefiting the companies.

The state further submitted that approximately Rs 50 lakh was allegedly transferred from accounts linked to relatives of Sanjay Badaya, described by the prosecution as a close associate of Joshi, to a firm owned by Rohit Joshi, the former minister’s son.

The prosecution also argued that despite the constitution of a high-powered committee to examine the issue, payments amounting to nearly Rs 14 crore were released to the companies. It questioned the purpose of constituting the committee when, according to the prosecution, official communication from IRCON had already indicated that certificates submitted by the companies were forged.

The state further alleged that the companies were blacklisted only after the ACB conducted raids, despite earlier information being available regarding the alleged irregularities.

After hearing submissions from both sides, the High Court reserved its verdict on the bail applications.