The Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has filed a nearly 3,000-page chargesheet before a special court in Jaipur in the alleged Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam worth ₹20,000 crore, naming former Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Mahesh Joshi and private individual Sanjay Badaya as accused. The chargesheet was submitted on 1 July before the court of Special ACB Judge Rajesh Kumar Dadiya.

Public Prosecutor Manjula Jain, appearing for the state government, told the court that the investigation remains ongoing and has not yet been concluded.

Phase-Wise Chargesheets as Probe Widens

This is not the first chargesheet filed in the case. The ACB had previously submitted a chargesheet against 10 other accused, including former Additional Chief Secretary Subodh Agrawal. The agency has adopted a phase-wise approach to filing chargesheets as the investigation progresses, and has indicated that supplementary chargesheets may follow.

According to the ACB, the probe is focused on alleged irregularities in the tender process, contract awards, and financial transactions under the Jal Jeevan Mission in Rajasthan.

Accused in Judicial Custody

A total of 11 individuals are currently lodged in judicial custody in connection with the case: former Minister Mahesh Joshi, Sanjay Badaya, Dinesh Goyal, Krishnadeep Gupta, Shubhanshu Dixit, Sushil Sharma, Vishal Saxena, D.K. Gaur, Mahendra Prakash Soni, Mukesh Pathak, and Niril Kumar.

Accused Arun Srivastava has been granted bail by the Rajasthan High Court. Standing arrest warrants have been issued against Jitendra Sharma, Mukesh Goyal, and Sanjeev Gupta, with efforts underway to apprehend them.

High Court Flags Procedural Lapses by ACB

In a significant parallel development, the Rajasthan High Court recently dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by Rohit Joshi, son of former Minister Mahesh Joshi, which challenged the legality of his father's arrest. While rejecting the plea, the court made pointed observations against both the ACB and the Special Judge, noting serious procedural lapses and expressing concern that certain facts appeared to have been manipulated.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Umashankar Vyas and Justice Ashok Kumar Jain found that the constitutional requirement of communicating the grounds of arrest in writing had not been properly followed. The court recorded that the ACB had failed to place any document on record showing that Mahesh Joshi had been informed of the actual grounds of his arrest — a constitutional mandate, the Bench underscored.

The court, however, held that since Mahesh Joshi was already in judicial custody pursuant to court orders, the legality of his initial arrest could not be examined through a habeas corpus petition, in line with Supreme Court precedents. The petition was dismissed while leaving open the option of challenging the Special Judge's order through appropriate legal remedies.

What the JJM Scam Involves

The Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship Central scheme aimed at providing piped drinking water to every rural household. Allegations in the Rajasthan case centre on large-scale irregularities in tendering and contract awards under the mission, with the estimated financial irregularity placed at ₹20,000 crore. This is among the largest corruption cases to be prosecuted by the Rajasthan ACB in recent years, and the probe's expanding scope — reflected in successive chargesheets — signals the bureau's intent to pursue the matter comprehensively.

With supplementary chargesheets expected and three accused still at large, the case is far from its final chapter.