Supreme Court gives bail to former Rajasthan Minister Mahesh Joshi in money laundering case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (December 3, 2025) gave bail to Congress leader and former Rajasthan Minister Mahesh Joshi in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme.

A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih passed the order on an appeal filed by Mr. Joshi challenging the Rajasthan High Court’s August order denying him bail.

Mr. Joshi, 70, was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the federal probe agency after about seven-eight hours of questioning at its office in Jaipur.

The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by Rajasthan’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) into the scheme that aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through household tap connections.

The scheme was being implemented in Rajasthan by the state’s Public Health Engineering (PHE) department. Mr. Joshi was a minister of the department in the previous Ashok Gehlot Government.