The actual trial of former IAS Subodh Agarwal in the Rs 980 crore Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is set to begin as the Anti Corruption Bureau has filed chargesheet in the special court.
The ACB, however has kept the investigation against former ministers Mahesh Joshi, Sanjay Badaya and other accused pending.
With the filing of 17,500 pages chargesheet, hopes of Subodh Agarwal getting a bail in the corruption case afloat as ACB has formally completed investigation against him.
The ACB had arrested retired IAS Subodh Agarwal from Delhi on April 9, 2026 after he surrendered following rigorous chase of ACB. Since then Agarwal had been relinquishing in jail after spending some time in police custody.
The ACB had registered an FIR on behalf of the Jal Jeevan Mission scam on October 30, 2024.
Chargesheets have already been filed against several officials including Dinesh Goel, Krishnadeep Gupta, Subhanshu Dikshit, Sushil Sharma, Vishal Saxena, Arun Srivastava, DK Gaur, Mahendra Prakash Soni, Mukesh Pathak and Niril Kumar in this case.
At the same time, the court has issued permanent arrest warrants against Jitendra Sharma, Mukesh Goel and Sanjeev Gupta as they are absconding.
What is Jal Jeevan Mission Scam?
The JJM scam is linked to the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission Scheme' of the Centre, which provides taps to every house. In the year 2021, Padamchand Jain and Mahesh Mittal, contractors of Shri Shyam Tubewell Company and M/s Shri Ganpati Tubewell Company, had obtained 4 tenders worth crores of rupees from the water supply department (PHED) by showing fake experience certificates.
Shri Ganpati Tubewell Company had participated in 68 tenders of PHED with fake work certificates. Out of them, 359.2 crore tenders were won in the form of L-1 in 31 tenders.
At the same time, Shri Shyam Tubewell Company participated in 169 tenders and won tenders worth Rs 120.25 crore by participating in 73 tenders as L-1. After the scam came to light, the ACB started an investigation. Many corrupt officials were arrested.
On the basis of FIR registered by ACB, the ED then registered a case and raided the premises of Mahesh Joshi and his associate Sanjay Badaya and others. The ED had completed its investigation and submitted the evidence and documents to the ACB on May 4.
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