HC Directs ED and Rajasthan Govt to Submit Status Report on Jal Jeevan Mission Probe

The High Court has directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the state government to submit investigation reports in the Jal Jeevan Mission scam. The case was heard in the High Court on Wednesday. In this case, advocates Poonam Chand Bhandari, Abhinav Bhandari, and Dr. TN Sharma, representing the petitioner, Public Against Corruption, raised serious objections regarding the investigation before the High Court division bench. The petitioners stated that a scam worth thousands of crores occurred in the Jal Jeevan Mission, but the government has filed FIRs only in the cases of two firms. The complainants have filed complaints in several cases involving Jaipur National University, Mangilal Bishnoi, and Om Infra, among others, which have also been presented in court. However, the government has neither conducted any investigation nor filed FIRs in any of the cases except for the frauds committed by these two firms, and influential criminals are being protected. In this case, Additional Solicitor General Bharat Vyas, representing the ED, told the court that the ED had also arrested some people. The petitioner's lawyers informed the court that action has been taken in only two cases, while the big fish are being protected and no action is being taken against them, despite submitting complaints with supporting documents to the government.

After the hearing, the Rajasthan High Court bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sangeeta Sharma directed the ED and the government to respond to all the complaints submitted by the petitioner and ordered the matter to be listed after three weeks.

Complainant advocate Dr. TN Sharma stated that a scam worth thousands of crores has taken place in the Jal Jeevan Mission project, but the ACB is only investigating the fraudulent activities of Ganpati Tubewell and Shyam Tubewell. However, I have submitted several other similar cases to the ACB along with documentary evidence, but despite repeated reminders, the ACB has neither filed an FIR nor initiated any investigation.