Jaipur, Aug 26 (IANS) The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of former Minister Mahesh Joshi, confirming that he will remain in jail.
The decision was delivered by Justice Praveer Bhatnagar.
Earlier, after hearing arguments from both sides, the court had reserved its order on August 8. Joshi was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 24 in connection with the alleged Rs 900 crore Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam and has been in jail since.
After the special court dealing with ED cases denied him bail, he had approached the High Court. Senior advocate Vivekraj Bajwa, appearing for Joshi, argued that his client had been wrongly implicated. He pointed out that Joshi’s name did not appear in the original case filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Despite receiving a notice a year ago, Joshi was arrested without any new evidence surfacing. Bajwa further said that ED accused Joshi of receiving Rs 2.01 crore, but failed to provide evidence of the source of this money.
He also clarified that the Rs 50 lakh transaction in Joshi’s son’s firm was merely a loan, which had already been repaid.
Opposing the plea, ED counsel Akshay Bhardwaj argued that Joshi’s role was specifically mentioned in a separate ACB FIR.
He asserted that the Rs 50 lakh transaction in his son’s company could not be overlooked simply because it was later returned.
Bhardwaj claimed Joshi accepted bribes during the tendering process of the department.
He reminded the court that under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), bail can only be granted if the court is prima facie convinced that the accused is not guilty.
Granting bail, he said, could allow Joshi to influence witnesses.
Accepting ED’s contention, the High Court rejected the bail plea.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), last year, had registered an FIR against 22 people, including former Minister Mahesh Joshi, in connection with the multi-crore Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam.
The list of accused also featured senior officials of the department, including the financial advisor, chief engineer, additional chief engineer, superintendent engineer, and executive engineer.
According to ACB sources, a crucial breakthrough came from the scrutiny of an email ID, which led investigators to key evidence.
By tracking and examining related email accounts, the names of several officials involved in awarding tenders on fake certificates came to light.
The investigation has revealed a deep nexus of officials and contractors who allegedly manipulated the tendering process to facilitate large-scale corruption under the JJM scheme.
–IANS
arc/dpb