Mumbai Court Grants Anticipatory Bail to Contractor Lokesh Jain in Mithi River Scam
The Mumbai Sessions Court on July 17, 2026, granted anticipatory bail to contractor Lokesh Jain in connection with an alleged Rs 65 crore desilting scam involving the Mithi river.
The court noted that the police had not arrested Jain since the First Information Report (FIR) was registered in May 2025, and that key documents had already been seized by the investigating officer.
Jain, a partner of M/s Bhumika Transport, had secured a contract for desilting work along a portion of the Mithi river for the period from 2023 to 2024. The prosecution alleged that Jain, along with co-accused Ketan Kadam, conspired to cause a wrongful loss of approximately Rs 65 crore to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) by submitting forged documents.
According to the prosecution, Jain's firm claimed to have hired two Silt Pushing Pontoon Machines and Multipurpose Amphibious Pontoon Machines from M/s Woder India LLP, owned by Kadam, for Rs 1.91 crore. However, the prosecution alleged that Kadam's company had not actually purchased these machines. Additionally, Jain was accused of submitting forged log sheets of silt transportation and fake photographs to the BMC, for which his company allegedly received Rs 24.49 crore.
Defending Jain, advocates Poonam Ankleshwaria and Prathamesh Parkar argued that entering into a hire agreement was mandatory under tender conditions to ensure machine availability. They stated that a BMC team of five officers had verified the weighbridge receipts and photographs, observing 90 percent completion of the work by May 31, 2024. The defense added that the officers visited the sites regularly, noted deficiencies, and recorded compliance after penalties were imposed.
In granting relief, the sessions court observed that the alleged conspiracy was hatched in 2020, whereas Jain obtained the contract for the 2023–2025 period, indicating no initial role in the conspiracy.
The court also highlighted that Jain had cooperated by visiting the investigating officer's office on multiple occasions, yet the police had not arrested him. Since the relevant tender and desilting documents had already been seized from the Storm Water Drains department, the court ruled that no further seizures from Jain were required.
