Mithi River desilting fraud accused denied bail

The court said that the investigation was not yet complete, and many accused were yet to be arrested. It rejected the bail pleas of the duo, saying they might create hurdles in the probe

MUMBAI: An additional chief judicial magistrate court has denied bail to Jay Ashok Joshi and Ketan Kadam, who were arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in Mithi river desilting contracts.

File photo of Mithi river desilting (Hindustan Times)

In a detailed order dated May 22, the court observed that the duo had caused losses worth ₹65 crore to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the public.

Kadam, 50, is the director of Woder India LLP, a Mumbai-based company that provides desilting services, while Joshi, 49, is associated with Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based industrial product manufacturer. According to the police, the duo charged the BMC inflated amounts to rent silt pusher machines and dredging equipment from a Kochi-based firm, Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd. Matprop executives connived with officials from the BMC’s storm water drains department (SWD) to defraud the civic body, the police said.

The defence submitted that Kadam and Joshi were not beneficiaries of any illegal gains and their firms had nothing to do with tenders floated for desilting prior to 2021 since they did not supply any machines to any of the contractors.

Joshi’s advocate stated that he was an investor and financier involved in multiple business ventures and only delivered machines to contractors. He did not have any concern regarding the tender issued by the BMC for desilting Mithi river, the lawyer said. Kadam’s advocate argued that he was neither a partner nor a director in Virgo or Woder.

The prosecution submitted that the duo had committed serious offence, the defrauded amount was huge, and recovery was pending.

The court rejected the argument that the duo had nothing to do with the BMC contract since the tender condition permitted the contractor to either own a machine or take it on rent. Joshi had used his influence to interfere in the tender process, the court said.

“It seems that though the applicant does not have any direct concern with the tender floated by BMC, he used his influence by using his contacts with the officers of the municipal corporation and got the conditions of the tender modified,” the court observed.

The court said that the investigation was not yet complete, and many accused were yet to be arrested.

“Due to the act of the accused, wrongful loss is caused to the government and public at large,” said the court. It rejected the bail pleas of the duo, saying they might create hurdles in the probe.

Meanwhile, two BMC officials – deputy chief engineer of the stormwater drains department (operation and maintenance) Prashant Tayshete and deputy chief engineer of Mithi River Development Project Prashant Ramugade – have also moved the sessions court seeking anticipatory bail.