New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to an alleged middleman arrested in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in Rajasthan's Jal Jeevan Mission scheme. A bench led by Justice BR Gavai, while granting relief to Sanjay Badaya, asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) whether the then minister of the department concerned, on whose behalf the accused allegedly received money, was made an accused in the case.
Granting bail to Badaya, the bench observed that substantial evidence in the case was documentary in nature and the ED had seized the documents. The bench, also comprising Justice KV Vishwanathan, observed that the said minister has not been made an accused in the present case. The counsel, representing the central agency, said the investigation was underway.
The bench noted that over 50 witnesses were still to be examined and the charges were yet to be framed. The ED's money laundering case originates from an FIR registered by Rajasthan's anti-corruption bureau. The apex court's order came on a plea by Badaya, filed through advocate Vivek Jain, challenging the November 11 order of the Rajasthan High Court dismissing his bail plea. He was arrested by the ED in July.
The Centre's water scheme aimed at providing safe and adequate drinking water through household tap connections. Premises in Jaipur and Dausa, including the residential and official ones of senior public health department officials, former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi and former additional chief secretary Subodh Agarwal, were searched by the ED in connection with the probe. Joshi was a minister in the previous Congress government in Rajasthan.