A new twist has emerged in the alleged Rs 900 crore Jal Jeevan Mission scam in Rajasthan following recent raids by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and reports claiming that former Additional Chief Secretary Subodh Agarwal had gone absconding. Agarwal has now approached the Rajasthan High Court, filing a criminal petition seeking the quashing of the FIR registered against him. The High Court is expected to hear the matter next week.
In the petition, Agarwal’s counsel, Deepak Chauhan, stated that the petitioner’s tenure in the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) began on April 18, 2022. The plea claims that nearly 95% of the work orders awarded to the accused firms were approved by the Finance Committee chaired by then Additional Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant, who later became the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan.
It argues that less than 10% of the tenders were approved during Agarwal’s tenure and alleges that the ACB failed to examine this distinction.
The petition further states that although a Finance Committee chaired by Agarwal approved certain tenders, no payments were released to either firm during his tenure, thereby preventing any financial loss to the government.
According to Chauhan, Agarwal constituted a high-level committee after receiving an email flagging discrepancies. Based on the committee’s findings, the tenders were cancelled, both firms were blacklisted, and legal action was initiated against PHED officer Vishal Saxena.
The petition alleges that the ACB relied on Saxena’s statements while proceeding against Agarwal, despite the latter having lodged an FIR against the officer, suggesting possible bias.
The developments follow one of the largest anti-corruption crackdowns in the state in recent years. On Tuesday, alleged irregularities worth around Rs 900 crore in the Jal Jeevan Mission prompted the ACB to conduct simultaneous raids at 15 locations across multiple states and arrest nine accused.
Nearly a dozen ACB teams carried out early-morning searches in Jaipur, Barmer, Sikar, Jalore, Udaipur, Karauli and Delhi, as well as locations in Bihar and Jharkhand, sending shockwaves through administrative and political circles.
Among those arrested were Chief Engineer (Administration) Dinesh Goyal and Chief Engineer (Rural) K.D. Gupta, along with seven others, including contractors and associated individuals. Agarwal also came under scrutiny, with ACB officials searching his residence and questioning him about tender approvals during his tenure.
Investigators alleged that M/s Shri Ganpati Tubewell Company, owned by Mahesh Mittal, and M/s Shri Shyam Tubewell Company, owned by Padmachand Jain, forged completion certificates in the name of IRCON International Ltd. In alleged connivance with senior PHED officials, the firms are accused of securing multiple high-value tenders in Rajasthan by misusing the PSU’s credentials.
According to the ACB, fake completion certificates worth nearly Rs 960 crore were submitted to qualify for major contracts, leading to the alleged siphoning of crores of rupees.
The probe also found that senior PHED officials allegedly introduced a “site visit certificate” requirement for projects exceeding Rs 50 crore, reportedly in violation of established norms. By revealing bidder identities and facilitating “tender pooling,” officials allegedly enabled unusually high tender premiums that were later approved, pointing to large-scale financial irregularities.