[2026:RJ-JP:22760] HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT JAIPUR S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous Bail Application No. 4864/2026 Arun Srivastava S/o Vishnu Swaroop Srivastava, R/o 53, Shri Gopal Nagar, Gopalpura Bypass, Jaipur. Then Retired As Additional Chief Engineer, P.H.E.D. Area First, Jaipur. (Presently Lodged At Central Jail, Jaipur). ----Petitioner Versus The State Of Rajasthan, Through Its Public Prosecutor. ----Respondent For Petitioner(s) : Mr. V.R. Bajwa, Sr. Adv. assisted by Mr. Sneh Deep Khyaliya, Mr. Siddharth Sharma & Mr. Himanshu Choudhary For Respondent(s) : Mr. Rajesh Choudhary, GA-cum-AAG Mr. Vijay Yadav, AGA with Mr. Vinod Kumar Sharma HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAVI CHIRANIA Order 1. Date of conclusion of Arguments 26.05.2026 2. Date on which the judgment was reserved 26.05.2026 3. Whether the full judgment or only operative part is pronounced Full 4. Date of pronouncement 01.06.2026 1. The instant bail application has been filed by the petitioner Arun Srivastava S/o Vishnu Swaroop Srivastava under Section 483, BNSS, who was arrested by the police in connection with FIR bearing No.245/2024 dated 30.10.2024 registered at Police Station Pradhan Arakshi Kendra, Anti Corruption Bureau, District Jaipur, for the offences punishable under Sections 7(C), 9, 10, 13(1)(a) read with Section 13(2), 12 of Prevention of Corruption, [2026:RJ-JP:22760] (2 of 7) [CRLMB-4864/2026] (Amendment) Act, 2018 and Sections 409, 466, 467, 468, 471, 477A, 120B of IPC. The bail application of the petitioner was rejected by Court of Special Judge, Prevention of Corruption Act, Jaipur Metro-II vide order dated 07.03.2026. 2. Mr. Vivek Raj Bajwa, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner assisted by Mr. Sneh Deep Khyaliya, Mr. Siddharth Sharma and Mr. Himanshu Choudhary, submitted that the petitioner was posted as Additional Chief Engineer, P.H.E.D. and invited bids for tender bearing Nos.73/2022-23 and 74/2022-23. He further submitted that in respect of some scam in the Department in Jal Jeevan Mission project (JJM) of the Government, the impugned FIR was registered, in which the petitioner has been named as one of the accused. 3. Learned Senior Counsel further submitted that the complete allegations in the entire scam is in respect of total 104 tenders as awarded by the Department, out of which only 7 have been investigated up till now for which the FIRs have been lodged. He further submitted that the allegations in the scam are against two firms, namely, M/s Ganpati Tubewell Company and M/s Shyam Tubewell company, who submitted their bids in various tenders showing their experience of working and completing certain projects with IRCON International Limited. The above-mentioned two firms, as alleged in the FIR, submitted fake experience certificates in all the tenders and on that basis they got certain tenders awarded in their name. As far as the petitioner is concerned, he invited bids for aforementioned tenders bearing Nos.73/2022-23 and 74/2022-23, in which number of firms submitted their tenders, however, the above two firms, against [2026:RJ-JP:22760] (3 of 7) [CRLMB-4864/2026] which the allegations are there in the FIR were not found successful as their bids were not the lowest and, therefore, tender bearing No.73/2022-23 was awarded to one M/s Ghanshyam Borewell Company and 74/2022–23 was awarded to GRG Infra. He further submitted that he has not committed any offence as alleged in the impugned FIR and he followed the complete process in the case by rightly peforming the task as per his responsibility of the post he was holding. 4. It is further submitted that the allegations against the petitioner is that for verification of the certificates of the above two firms, namely, M/s Ganpati Tubewell and M/s Shyam Tubewell, he sent e-mails for verification to IRCON, allegedly on fake e-mail IDs and on the basis of the response as received regarding the correctness of the certificates, he processed their tender applications. Except the above two allegations, other allegations against the petitioner are of negligence and not being careful while processing the tender applications of the above-mentioned two firms. 5. Learned senior counsel submitted that the impugned FIR was registered on 30.10.2024, in which the ACB, after conducting the investigation, has filed the charge-sheet and the petitioner is behind the bars from 17.02.2026. He further submitted that complete FIR and the charge-sheet clearly fails to show any offence, as alleged in the impugned FIR, was committed by the petitioner. He submitted that for the same incident, number of FIRs have been lodged, one by the CBI bearing No. RC2172024A0008 dated 03.05.2024, another bearing No.542/2023 dated 03.10.2023 (lodged by the PHED [2026:RJ-JP:22760] (4 of 7) [CRLMB-4864/2026] Department), and third by the ACB bearing No. 245/2024 dated 30.10.2024. Learned senior counsel further submitted that in respect of same allegations there cannot be multiple FIRs in terms of the law laid down by the Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of T.T. Anthony Vs. State of Kerala reported in 2001(6) SCC 181. 6. Learned senior counsel further added that the petitioner is a chronic heart patient as he suffered heart problem at the age of 41 in the year 2005, when 95% blockage was found and a stent was inserted in his heart (Annex-6, page 118). He further submitted that in 2023, the petitioner again had serious cardiac problem and was admitted in Fortis Hospital, Jaipur on 06.12.2023 and discharged on 11.12.2023. By referring to the discharge summary of the hospital, learned senior counsel submitted that the report shows that the petitioner, aged about 57-58 years at the relevant time was admitted for severe cardiac arrest and revived after nearly 45 minutes of CPR (page 124, discharge summary of the hospital). 7. In view of the above medical condition, learned senior counsel prayed that as the investigation is over, charge-sheet has been filed, no recovery is required to be made from the petitioner and he being a chronic heart patient, as visible from the medical reports enclosed with the bail application, deserves to be enlarged on bail in the given facts and circumstances of the case. 8. Learned GA-cum-AAG, Mr. Rajesh Choudhary, appearing for ACB, strongly opposed the bail application and submitted that the Jal Jeevan Mission scam is a serious scam in which number of Government officials are involved, who invited and issued tenders in a malfeasance manner and, therefore, the impugned FIR was [2026:RJ-JP:22760] (5 of 7) [CRLMB-4864/2026] lodged by the ACB by specifically mentioning their names along with their respective roles. 9. Learned GA-cum-AAG further submitted that the petitioner herein, who was working as Additional Chief Engineer and concerned with issuance of tender Nos.73/2022-23 and 74/2022- 23 was required to examine the tender documents properly including the experience certificates submitted by the two firms namely, M/s Ganpati Tubewells and M/s Shyam Tubewells. The petitioner, despite being a senior and responsible officer, did not perform his duty fairly and properly. For verification of the experience certificate, he also sent e-mails on fake e-mail ID as given by the aforementioned two firms, which was an intentional act. 10. Learned GA-cum-AAG further submitted that CBI has confined its FIR to limited people and has not registered any case against the present petitioner. The FIR bearing No.542/2023 has been merged with the FIR bearing No.245/2024 and, therefore, there are no multiple FIRs as alleged by the learned senior counsel. In view of the serious scam as committed by Government officials of the PHED in JJM, present case is not fit to enlarge the present petitioner on bail. He, therefore, prayed that the bail application filed by the petitioner be dismissed. 11. Heard learned counsel for the parties. This bail application was listed along with other connected bail on 26.05.2026. Arguments in this bail application were heard and order was reserved on 26.05.2026. 12. This Court heard learned Senior Counsel Mr. Vivek Raj Bajwa at length and considered various arguments including the manner [2026:RJ-JP:22760] (6 of 7) [CRLMB-4864/2026] of lodging FIR, charge-sheet as filed in the case, FIR registered by the CBI and other relevant documents and noted that the scam as unearthed by the whistle blower has led to the registration of the impugned FIRs. None of the person named as accused has been enlarged on bail in the impugned FIRs, however, some of the accused persons have been granted protection by the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in the petitions filed under Section 528, BNSS, 2023, where they have challenged the registration of the FIRs against them. 13. This Court considered the medical history of the petitioner herein from 2005 till today and noted that the petitioner is above 60 years of age and a chronic heart patient. This Court also considered the last medical report of the year 2023, when the petitioner suffered serious cardiac arrest and was revived after 45 minutes of CPR. These documents have not been questioned and disputed by the learned GA-cum-AAG, Mr. Rajesh Choudhary, therefore, it is not in dispute that petitioner is a chronic heart patient and requires regular and proper medical care and treatment looking to the medical history. 14. Considering the medical condition of the petitioner, including his age, this Court, without going into the merits of the allegations including the arguments as raised by learned counsel for the petitioner and learned GA-cum-AAG, is inclined to enlarge the present petitioner on bail. 15. Accordingly, the bail application filed under Section 483 B.N.S.S. is hereby allowed and it is directed that accused- petitioner Arun Srivastava S/o Vishnu Swaroop Srivastava [2026:RJ-JP:22760] (7 of 7) [CRLMB-4864/2026] shall be released on bail subject to the conditions that petitioner shall - (1) executes a personal bond in a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- with two sound and solvent sureties of Rs.50,000/- to the satisfaction of learned Trial Court for his appearance before that Court on each and every date of hearing and whenever called upon to do so till the completion of the trial. (2) not tamper with the evidence or influence any witness or person connected directly or indirectly with this case in any manner whatsoever. (3) surrender the passport to the Investigating Officer of the case. (4) not leave the country without permission of the learned Trial Court. (5) co-operate in the investigation of any other FIR related to the JJM scam, if any, registered by the ACB or any other investigation agency. 16. It is made clear that the observation as made by this Court in the bail application will not affect the trial of the case. (RAVI CHIRANIA),J /Dushyant