JAIPUR: A special Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court on Monday extended the police remand of retired IAS officer Subodh Agarwal by two days in connection with the alleged ₹960 crore Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam, allowing investigators more time to question him.
Agarwal, who was arrested on April 9, had earlier been sent to three days of police custody on April 10. Following the end of that remand period, he was produced before the court again on Monday morning.
Briefly speaking to reporters, Agarwal said he had “cooperated in the investigation” and answered all questions posed by the ACB. He denied any wrongdoing and claimed that only four of the 37 finance committee cases under scrutiny pertain to his tenure, while the remaining 33 cases—worth nearly ₹600 crore—belong to the period when IAS officer Sudhansh Pant chaired the committee.
Agarwal served as chairman of the Public Health Engineering Department’s (PHED) finance committee from April 18, 2022, to May 17, 2023. He also alleged that the investigation was not targeting the actual beneficiaries of the alleged corruption, suggesting that those who did not receive money were being implicated while the real beneficiaries were not being probed.
ACB officials said they had prepared a detailed questionnaire of around 125 questions and had already interrogated Agarwal over the past three days on issues related to financial approvals, tendering processes and fund disbursal under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Investigators stated that the extended remand would help them scrutinise financial transactions, trace the chain of approvals and establish accountability. They also indicated that further arrests and disclosures in the case are likely.
16,000-page chargesheet filed
In a significant development, the ACB on Monday filed a massive 16,000-page chargesheet against 10 accused officials in a special court, underlining the scale of the alleged scam in the implementation of the central government’s rural water supply scheme.
Compiled in 54 bundles, the chargesheet names senior PHED officials and technical experts among the accused. All individuals named are currently in judicial custody, and the agency is expected to seek prosecution sanction from the government as the investigation progresses.
