ACB files 17,500-page chargesheet against retired IAS Subodh Agarwal in Jal Jeevan Mission scam
Probe continues against ex-minister Mahesh Joshi; ACB says corruption found in tenders worth Rs 20,000 crore
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Subodh Agarwal who was arrested by ACB
Jaipur: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Rajasthan on Thursday presented a chargesheet against retired IAS officer Subodh Agarwal before the ACB Court No. 1, Jaipur, in the much-discussed Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) corruption case. The chargesheet runs to nearly 17,500 pages.
ACB Director General Govind Gupta said the investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted in the case revealed that tenders worth around Rs 979.27 crore were allegedly obtained on the basis of fake documents and forged work completion certificates, and that widespread financial irregularities and corruption were allegedly committed in collusion with some officers of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and private individuals.
According to the ACB, the probe also found that conditions contrary to the rules were included in certain tenders, affecting competition and the fairness of the tender process, and that attempts were made to cause large-scale financial loss to the state.
The bureau said it has earlier filed chargesheets against 10 accused in the case — Dinesh Goyal, Krishnadeep Gupta, Shubhanshu Dixit, Sushil Sharma, Niril Kumar, Vishal Saxena, Arun Srivastava, D.K. Gaur, Mahendra Prakash Soni and Mukesh Pathak.
Investigation is continuing against former minister Mahesh Joshi, Sanjay Badaya and others, the ACB said. According to the bureau, the probe indicated that the then minister Mahesh Joshi, the then Additional Chief Secretary (PHED) Subodh Agarwal, departmental officers, contractors, private individual Sanjay Badaya and others allegedly colluded to include a site visit certificate requirement, against the rules, in tenders for major projects costing more than Rs 50 crore. This allegedly exposed the identity of bidders, encouraged tender pooling and led to abnormally high tender premiums of 30 to 40 per cent. The ACB said misuse of office and widespread corruption were found established in tenders worth around Rs 20,000 crore.
The chargesheet was prepared under the supervision of Deputy Inspector General Dr Rameshwar Singh by an SIT comprising Additional Superintendents of Police Himanshu Singh, Bhupendra and Mahavir Prasad, and was presented in court by the investigating officer, Additional SP Mahavir Prasad. The bureau said further legal action would be taken in accordance with the rules once the investigation is complete.
