ACB arrests ex-Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi in JJM scam case

ED had earlier arrested Joshi on April 25, 2025, in connection with alleged money laundering linked to the scheme.

Months after being released by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on bail, former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) early on Thursday in connection with alleged irregularities worth ₹900 crore in the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scheme.

Mahesh Joshi, when he was a minister in the former Rajasthan government. (Facebook)

ACB deputy inspector general (DIG) Rameshwar Singh said Joshi, who held the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) portfolio when the alleged irregularities took place, was arrested after the agency gathered “conclusive evidence” regarding his involvement in the case.

“Joshi was the minister of the PHED when these irregularities took place. After gathering some conclusive evidence regarding his involvement in the scam, a special team of the ACB arrested him from his residence in Jaipur at around 5.30am on Thursday. He is now being brought to the ACB headquarters for further interrogation. Further details regarding his role in the JJM scam will be shared accordingly,” Singh said.

Joshi’s arrest comes nearly a month after the ACB arrested retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Subodh Agrawal on April 9. Agrawal had served as the additional chief secretary (ACS) of the PHED during Joshi’s tenure.

ED had earlier arrested Joshi on April 25, 2025, in connection with alleged money laundering linked to the scheme. He was released on December 3, 2025, after the Supreme Court granted him bail, citing lack of strong evidence and slow progress in the investigation.

The ED arrest had taken place under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on an FIR lodged by the Rajasthan ACB on August 8, 2023.

The FIR named 22 others, including Agrawal and private individual Sanjay Badhaya, an alleged close aide of Joshi, who was arrested by the ED on July 16, 2024.

Ahead of Agrawal’s arrest, the ACB had arrested at least 10 people on February 17 during search operations across Rajasthan, Delhi, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Those arrested included PHED chief engineer Dinesh Goyal, executive engineer of the department’s Jodhpur unit Vishal Saxena, and other officials — KD Gupta, Sushil Sharma, DK Gaur, Mahendra Soni, Shubhanshu Dixit, Arun Shrivastava and Niril Kumar.

According to the ACB, the accused officials issued tenders in a manner that allegedly favoured select companies at inflated rates in violation of norms, causing significant losses to the government exchequer under the scheme.

Earlier, the ED had also submitted an investigation report in the case. HT had reported that the ED’s preliminary findings alleged that then PHED minister Mahesh Joshi and ACS Agrawal received at least 4% of the tender amount as bribes to clear contracts for private firms at inflated costs under the mission.

“In the tenders, Padamchand Jain and Mahesh Mittal had paid 4% of the tender amount upfront as bribe to both ACS, and Sanjay Badhaya (for PHED minister Mahesh Joshi). Agrawal was the head of the PHED’s finance committee which deals with all tenders worth above ₹5 crore. He was very much interested in two tenders (by Ganapati Tubewells and Shyam Tubewells companies) related to Nagaur under the jurisdiction of additional chief engineer of the PHED’s Ajmer unit,” the ED report read, a copy of which was seen by HT.

The ED also alleged that “the minister (through his close associate Sanjay Badhaya) and ACS Agrawal had forced junior engineer Vishal Saxena to ensure a ‘positive report’ on the firms during the tender verification process”, indicating alleged favouritism.

According to the ED, Jain and Mittal used fake documents to secure 104 tenders worth ₹979.45 crore between 2021 and 2023.