JAIPUR: In a major twist in Rajasthan’s high-profile Rs 960-crore Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam, arrested retired IAS officer Subodh Agarwal has named former Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant during a court appearance, sending shockwaves through the state’s administrative machinery.
A major commotion was reported in a Jaipur court on Monday during a hearing of the JJM case when Agarwal who was himself Additional Chief Secretary when he retired, directly questioned the functioning of the then administrative setup.
Produced in court after the end of his Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) remand, Agarwal gave a fresh twist to the case by publicly referring to ex-CS Pant while interacting with the media.
The court subsequently sent Agarwal to ACB remand for another two days. His next appearance is scheduled for April 15.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Agarwal made serious allegations, claiming he had fully cooperated with investigators and answered over 125 questions. However, he asserted that of the 37 Finance Committee-related cases under scrutiny, only four pertain to his tenure, while the remaining 33 date back to the period when Pant was in charge.
He further alleged that these 33 cases involve financial irregularities of nearly Rs 600 crore. Questioning the ACB’s probe, Agarwal claimed the agency was focusing on files where payments had not yet been made, while allegedly ignoring cases involving actual cash transactions.
The Rs 960-crore JJM scam probe has revealed that bribes were allegedly distributed to officials at a Jaipur hotel. Agarwal has been arrested in the case, while nine other officials were earlier apprehended on February 17.
Three individuals from the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) - Jitendra Sharma (then Executive Engineer), Mukesh Goyal (then Superintending Engineer), and their associate Sanjeev Gupta - remain absconding. According to ACB officials, tenders for the project were manipulated in collusion with private firms.
Investigations have also found that fugitive accused Mukesh Goyal allegedly conspired with Mukesh Pathak, a private office assistant at IRCON, in executing the fraud. Raids have been conducted at over 260 locations to trace the absconding accused.
So far, 11 individuals, including Former PHED Minister Mahesh Joshi and senior engineers, have been arrested in the case. Joshi was taken into custody but later granted bail. Now, Agarwal’s arrest is being seen as a significant breakthrough in the ongoing investigation.
The ACB has alleged that firms such as M/s Shri Ganpati Tubewell Company and M/s Shri Shyam Tubewell Company used forged completion certificates in the name of IRCON International Ltd. to secure high-value tenders, indicating large-scale corruption and possible siphoning of public funds.