ACB arrests Sanjay Badaya in Jal Jeevan Mission scam; ex-PHED minister Mahesh Joshi in judicial custody

Jaipur: The Anti-Corruption Bureau’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Monday arrested Sanjay Badaya in the Jal Jeevan Mission corruption case shortly after he landed in Delhi on his return from Thailand. According to the agency, Badaya was detained at the Delhi airport on the strength of a previously issued lookout circular, brought to the ACB headquarters in Jaipur by a special team, formally arrested and produced before a court, which granted his police remand until 13 May 2026 for further investigation. The same day, former Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) minister Mahesh Joshi was produced before the court by the bureau and sent to judicial custody.

The action falls under Case No. 245/2024 registered at the ACB Bureau. The agency said its investigation has so far revealed that M/s Shri Ganpati Tubewell Company, run by proprietor Mahesh Mittal, and M/s Shri Shyam Tubewell Company, run by proprietor Padamchand Jain, prepared forged completion certificates of Ircon International Limited and used them to secure work orders worth around Rs 960 crore from the PHED. The ACB has alleged that the two firms acted in collusion with then PHED minister Mahesh Joshi, then Additional Chief Secretary (PHED) Subodh Agarwal, several chief and additional chief engineers, contractors and other private persons — chief among them Sanjay Badaya.

In a separate strand of the same case, the SIT has alleged that the conspirators inserted a mandatory site-visit certificate clause into tenders for major projects above Rs 50 crore in violation of departmental rules. According to the ACB, this allowed bidders’ identities to be revealed before bid opening and enabled tender pooling, resulting in unusually high tender premiums of 30 to 40 per cent. The agency said these inflated tenders were approved by PHED officials in what it described as a widespread misuse of office, and that the cumulative value of the tenders covered by this allegation is around Rs 20,000 crore.

The investigation has also found, according to the agency, that Badaya was close to then PHED minister Mahesh Joshi and interfered in departmental affairs. The ACB alleges he had close ties with the contractors named in the case and that there were transactions of bribe money between them. It further alleges that PHED officials were pressured with transfers and departmental action to clear the way for corruption in the Jal Jeevan Mission, and that bribes were paid in exchange for transfer-posting decisions.

Twelve accused had earlier been arrested in the case: former minister Mahesh Joshi; retired IAS officer Subodh Agarwal; Dinesh Goyal, currently Chief Engineer (Administration); K.D. Gupta, currently Chief Engineer (Rural); Subhanshu Dixit, then Secretary RWSSMB and currently Additional Chief Engineer, Jaipur Region-II; Sushil Sharma, currently Financial Advisor, Akshay Urja; Niril Kumar, currently Chief Engineer, Churu; Vishal Saxena, Executive Engineer (currently suspended); Arun Srivastava, Additional Chief Engineer (now retired); D.K. Gaud, then Chief Engineer and Technical Member (now retired); Mahendra Prakash Soni, then Superintending Engineer (now retired); and Mukesh Pathak, a private person.

Three other accused — then Superintending Engineer Mukesh Goyal, then Executive Engineer Jitendra Sharma and private person Sanjeev Gupta — are absconding. The ACB said the court has issued permanent arrest warrants against them and that proceedings to declare them proclaimed offenders are under way. The High Court, the agency said, has granted protection from arrest to five other accused in the case.

The SIT is functioning under the supervision of Deputy Inspector General of Police Dr. Rameshwar Singh, with Additional Superintendents of Police Himanshu, Mahavir Prasad Sharma and Bhupendra as its members. The ACB said the team has carried out a detailed analysis of technical and documentary evidence in the case and that further investigation is in progress.