Rs 65 cr Mithi river desilting 'scam': Middleman who supplied machinery gets bail

Mumbai, Jun 5 (PTI) A sessions court in Mumbai on Thursday granted bail to a middleman arrested for alleged involvement in the more than Rs 65 crore Mithi river desilting scam.

The bail plea of Jay Joshi was allowed by Additional Sessions Judge N G Shukla on execution of personal bond of Rs 1 lakh.

Joshi had approached the sessions court for bail after facing rejection from a magistrate court.

The accused, through his advocates Yusuf Iqbal and Zain Shroff, had submitted that he was not even remotely connected to the scam since he has no direct dealing with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

The advocates argued that Joshi was merely a machine supplier and had imported machines from the Netherlands.

He had paid over Rs 8 crore to procure these machines in March-April 2021 and, thereafter, had given it on lease to the contractors by way of private lease contracts, the defence said, adding that all business transactions were duly disclosed to tax authorities.

The prosecution, however, opposed the plea saying the investigation is in its preliminary stage and that work of collecting documentary evidence is ongoing.

If the applicant accused is granted bail, he may create obstacles in this process, the police said.

The court, after hearing both sides, allowed Joshi's plea. It asked him to appear before the Economic Offences Wing as and when he is called by the probe agency and to not tamper with evidence.

The detailed order has not been made available as yet.

Mumbai police's EOW registered a case against 13 persons, including contractors and civic officials, for an alleged Rs 65 crore scam related to the desilting of the Mithi River, which flows through the metropolis.

It is alleged that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials tailored the tender for the desilting contract to benefit a particular supplier of machinery needed for the work.

Further, the contractors generated fraudulent bills for transporting sludge out of Mumbai. The civic body suffered a loss of more than Rs 65.54 crore due to the entire scam, police have stated. PTI AVI BNM