ED arrests former Rajasthan Minister Mahesh Joshi in JJM scam case

Congress leader and former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi being taken for a medical checkup after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme, in Jaipur on April 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (April 24, 2025) arrested Congress leader and former Minister Mahesh Joshi in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Rajasthan. Mr. Joshi was interrogated in the case for more than six hours earlier in the day.

Mr. Joshi, who served as the Public Health Engineering Minister in the previous Congress regime, was arrested by the Central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Congress leader had reached the ED’s zonal office at Bhawani Singh Road here in response to the agency’s fourth summons.

The money laundering case stems from a first information report registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Rajasthan police against some individuals, who were accused of giving bribes to obtain tenders, get the bills sanctioned and cover up irregularities in works executed for various tenders received from the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).

The ED had earlier served Mr. Joshi with summons thrice last year, but he evaded his appearance seeking extension of time on various grounds. The Central agency has so far arrested four persons and attached the assets worth ₹11.03 crore in connection with its probe into the alleged scam.

The PHED is the implementing agency in the State for the JJM, which was launched by the Union government to provide safe and adequate drinking water through household tap connections. Senior BJP leader Kirodi Lal Meena had launched a campaign to expose the people involved in the irregularities, which he claimed had amounted to more than ₹20,000 crore.

Mr. Joshi told journalists after his arrest that he had not committed any irregularity in the JJM, and he was trapped at the instance of those whom he had blacklisted during the scheme’s implementation.

Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condemned Mr. Joshi’s arrest, saying it was an instance of the BJP’s “political vendetta” executed through the ED, which had become the ruling party’s “extortion department”. He said the arrest was meant to emotionally break Mr. Joshi, whose wife was hospitalised in an unconscious state, for extracting “desirable statements” from him.