The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested former Congress cabinet minister Mahesh Joshi from his residence in Jaipur in connection with the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) corruption case. The bureau alleged that manipulated tenders, forged certificates, and cartelized bidding siphoned off crores of rupees from projects intended to deliver drinking water across Rajasthan.
Arrest and Remand
According to the ACB, Joshi, who was the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) minister at the time of the alleged offenses, was arrested after interrogation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). A court subsequently remanded him to ACB custody until May 11. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also arrested Joshi in June 2025, but he secured bail in December 2025.
Forged Certificates and Tender Manipulation
ACB’s SIT officials revealed that two firms—Ganpati Tubewell and Shree Shyam Tubewell—used forged completion certificates purportedly issued by IRCON International Limited to secure PHED tenders worth several crores. The ACB alleged that these forged documents were attached to multiple bids in collusion with Joshi, then additional chief secretary Subodh Agarwal, senior PHED engineers, contractors, and private middlemen, including Sanjay Badaiya.
Investigators claim that the accused officials manipulated tender conditions for major projects exceeding Rs 50 crore by inserting a controversial mandatory site visit certificate clause, violating procurement norms. This clause allegedly exposed bidder identities before tenders were opened, enabling bid pooling and cartel formation.
Financial Losses and Abuses
The ACB alleged that the manipulation led to unusually high premiums of 30% to 40% in projects, causing massive losses to the state exchequer. PHED officers reportedly cleared the inflated bids despite glaring irregularities, amounting to large-scale abuse of official position.
List of Accused
So far, 11 accused have been arrested in the case, including retired IAS officer Subodh Agarwal and several serving and retired PHED engineers. Those arrested include Dinesh Goyal, KD Gupta, Subhanshu Dixit, Sushil Sharma, Niril Kumar, Vishal Saxena, Arun Srivastava, DK Gaur, Mahendra Prakash Soni, and private individual Mukesh Pathak.
Three accused—Mukesh Goyal, Jitendra Sharma, and Sanjeev Gupta—remain absconding. Permanent arrest warrants have been issued against them, and proceedings are underway to declare them proclaimed offenders. Five other accused persons have secured protection from arrest from the Rajasthan High Court.
Investigation Details
Officials stated that the SIT, under Deputy Inspector General Rameshwar Singh, conducted a detailed analysis of technical and documentary evidence before Joshi’s arrest. The investigation team includes Additional SPs Himanshu, Mahavir Prasad Sharma, and Bhupendra.
