Jaipur, Aug 13 — Former Rajasthan Water Supply Minister Mahesh Joshi suffered a major setback after the Rajasthan High Court rejected his bail plea in connection with the alleged corruption case involving the Jal Jeevan Mission.
The court also dismissed the bail applications of former IAS officer Subodh Agarwal and several other accused in the case. A single bench of the Rajasthan High Court passed the order after hearing arguments from both sides.
The case concerns alleged financial irregularities and corruption in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission in Rajasthan, with the alleged scam estimated at around Rs 20,000 crore.
Along with Mahesh Joshi and former IAS officer Subodh Agarwal, the court rejected the bail pleas of Sanjay Badaya, Mahendra Prakash Soni, Krishnadeep Gupta, Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, Dilip Kumar Gaur and Mukesh Pathak, among others.
The accused had sought relief from the court, but the bench declined to grant bail after considering the arguments presented during the proceedings.
During the hearing, Additional Advocate General Rajesh Chaudhary, along with advocates Neha Goyal, Aman Agarwal and Vinod Kumar Sharma, represented the Rajasthan Government and opposed the bail applications. The state argued that the Jal Jeevan Mission case involved serious allegations of large‑scale financial irregularities and abuse of official positions.
The prosecution maintained that the nature of the allegations and the accused's alleged role warranted rejection of their bail pleas. The court ultimately dismissed the applications.
Appearing for Mahesh Joshi, advocate Snehdeep argued that the former minister was arrested around one and a half years after the FIR was registered. The defence further submitted that although Joshi remained in Enforcement Directorate custody between April and December 2025, the Anti‑Corruption Bureau did not seek his custody during that period.
The defence also argued that Joshi was not a member of the bid evaluation committee or the finance committee and that administrative officials handled the tendering process.
Advocate Sudhir Jain, appearing for then‑SE Mahendra Prakash Soni, argued that multiple FIRs had been registered based on the same set of facts. He also submitted that directors of the contracting firm had already received relief and contended that the trial could take considerable time because of the extensive charge sheet and the nature of the proceedings.
Opposing the bail pleas, Additional Advocate General Rajesh Chaudhary and advocate Aman Agarwal argued that Mahesh Joshi, as the then minister in charge of the department, headed the concerned department and allegedly acted in collusion with other accused.
The prosecution alleged that tenders were awarded at inflated rates using forged documents and maintained that the allegations warranted continued judicial scrutiny.
After considering the submissions of the defence and the prosecution, the Rajasthan High Court rejected the bail applications of Mahesh Joshi and the other accused.