‘Rs 979 cr JJM tenders secured using forged documents’

JAIPUR: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has alleged that tenders worth more than Rs 979 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission were secured using forged documents and fabricated work-completion certificates, according to a chargesheet filed on Thursday against retired IAS officer and former additional chief secretary of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Subodh Agrawal.

The 17,500-page chargesheet was filed before ACB Court No. 1 in Jaipur against Agrawal, who was arrested on April 9. Investigators have alleged large-scale financial irregularities and corruption carried out in collusion with certain PHED officials and private individuals.

According to the probe, then PHED minister Mahesh Joshi, Agrawal, departmental officials, contractors, private individual Sanjay Baraya and others allegedly conspired to introduce, in violation of established norms, a mandatory site-visit certificate requirement in tenders for major projects valued at more than Rs 50 crore. The probe found evidence of abuse of official position and large-scale corruption in tenders worth nearly 20,000 crore which the bureau claimed was part of an attempt to inflict significant financial losses on the state exchequer.

The ACB alleged that the condition exposed the identities of bidders, facilitated tender pooling and resulted in abnormally high bid premiums ranging from 30% to 40%. Investigators said the evidence collected so far points to abuse of official position and widespread corruption in the award of tenders.

The chargesheet further states that tender conditions contrary to prescribed rules were inserted in several projects to influence competition, compromise the fairness of the bidding process and potentially cause substantial financial loss to the state exchequer.

ACB director general Govind Gupta said the bureau had constituted a special investigation team (SIT) headed by DIG Rameshwar Singh to investigate the case.

The investigation against Joshi, Baraya and several other individuals is kept pending.

The chargesheet also alleges that two firms — Shri Ganpati Tubewell, run by Mahesh Mittal, and Shri Shyam Tubewell, run by Padamchand Jain — forged certificates purportedly issued by IRCON International Ltd and submitted fake work-completion documents in multiple PHED tenders to secure eligibility.

According to the chargesheet, Agrawal allegedly received a report regarding the forged IRCON certificates on his official email but failed to take any action.

Officials said the SIT also examined discrepancies in tender applications that allegedly enabled the firms to qualify despite irregularities.

The chargesheet further details the role of Vishal Saxena, then an executive engineer, who was tasked with verifying a certificate submitted by Shri Ganpati Tubewell. Saxena allegedly told investigators that PHED officials directed him to submit a favourable verification report. Officials said the report became the basis on which the firm cleared scrutiny and subsequently secured tenders worth several crores.