JAIPUR: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested former Rajasthan Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Mahesh Joshi in the alleged ₹960-crore Jal Jeevan Mission Scam linked to the Centre’s flagship scheme aimed at providing tap water to every household.
The arrest of the cabinet minister in the former Ashok Gehlot government comes just days after the detention of former PHED Additional Chief Secretary Dr. Subodh Agarwal. ACB officials took Joshi into custody from his residence in Jaipur early morning on Thursday.
According to ACB officials, Mahesh Joshi is accused of accepting bribes in exchange for issuing tenders during his tenure as PHED Minister in the previous Congress Government in Rajasthan led by former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The ACB had registered an FIR against Joshi in 2024 in connection with the alleged scam.
Parallel to the ACB probe, the Enforcement Directorate is also investigating the matter under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had arrested Joshi in 2025, after which he remained in jail for nearly seven months before being granted bail by the Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, on February 17, the ACB conducted raids at nearly 15 locations across Rajasthan and arrested 10 engineers in connection with the case. Subsequently, the agency also arrested Dr. Subodh Agarwal, who had allegedly evaded investigators for a considerable period.
At present, three of the key accused in this case remain absconding and have been declared proclaimed offenders. The ACB has already collected details of their assets and submitted them before the court. Proceedings for attachment of their properties are expected to begin shortly.
The origins of the case trace back to June 20, 2023, when senior BJP leader Kirori Lal Meena staged a two-day sit-in protest outside the Ashok Nagar Police Station in Jaipur, demanding registration of an FIR in the matter.
Investigators allege that under the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme, two firms — M/s Shri Ganpati Tubewell and M/s Shri Shyam Tubewell — secured government tenders by submitting forged documents. The proprietors of the firms, Mahesh Mittal and Padamchand Jain, are accused of obtaining contracts worth nearly ₹960 crore using fraudulent certificates allegedly issued in the name of IRCON International.
The alleged scam triggered a major political controversy in Rajasthan and remained a key issue in political discourse during the 2023 Assembly elections, with opposition parties repeatedly targeting the then-Gehlot government over corruption allegations linked to the Jal Jeevan Mission.