The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on bail applications filed by seven accused — including former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi — in the alleged Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam case, following detailed arguments from both the defence and the prosecution. Justice Chandra Prakash Shrimali concluded the hearing and reserved the matter for orders.

Key Defence Arguments

Counsel representing Mahesh Joshi, former Additional Chief Secretary Subodh Agrawal, and other accused contended that the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) had already moved against the implicated companies — blacklisting them and withholding payments — even before a formal FIR was registered, following receipt of complaints.

The defence further argued that Joshi's arrest was unwarranted, noting that despite his remaining in custody for nearly seven months in a separate Enforcement Directorate (ED) case, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) neither interrogated nor arrested him during that period. It was also submitted that the ACB initiated a preliminary inquiry before obtaining the mandatory Governor's sanction, and that no documentary evidence established any illegal demand or gratification.

Crucially, the defence maintained that the alleged forged certificates had been in use before Joshi assumed charge as Public Health Engineering Minister and before Agrawal took over as Additional Chief Secretary. Of approximately 140 tenders floated by the PHED under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the defence said only four were awarded during the tenures of the two accused.

What the Prosecution Argued

Additional Advocate General Rajesh Chaudhary, appearing for the state, countered that the investigation had uncovered evidence suggesting that company proprietors Padamchand Jain and Mahesh Mittal exercised significant influence over administrative decisions within the PHED.

The prosecution pointed to intercepted telephone conversations recorded by the ACB, which allegedly showed that the two businessmen knew as early as 20 June 2023 who would chair a proposed high-powered committee to examine the matter — a committee that was constituted four days later under the very same official. The prosecution argued this pointed to irregularities at the ministerial and bureaucratic levels, engineered to benefit the companies.

Money Trail and Alleged Payments

The state alleged that approximately ₹50 lakh was transferred from accounts linked to relatives of Sanjay Badaya — described by the prosecution as a close associate of Joshi — to a firm owned by Rohit Joshi, the former minister's son.

The prosecution further argued that despite the formation of the high-powered committee to scrutinise the matter, payments totalling nearly ₹14 crore were released to the companies. It questioned why the committee was constituted at all, given that official communication from IRCON had reportedly already flagged the companies' submitted certificates as forged. The state also alleged that the companies were blacklisted only after the ACB conducted raids, notwithstanding earlier information about the alleged irregularities.

What Happens Next

With arguments concluded on both sides, the Rajasthan High Court's order on the bail applications is now awaited. The outcome will have significant implications for the accused, several of whom have been in custody, and will signal how the court weighs the competing narratives of procedural lapses versus substantive evidence of wrongdoing in one of Rajasthan's most closely watched corruption cases.