Court dismisses complaint against former Chief Secy in JJM Case

Jammu, Jun 13: A Special Judge of the Anti-Corruption Court in Jammu has dismissed a complaint filed by retired IAS officer A.K. Parmar alleging large-scale corruption in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in the procurement of GI, DI and HDPE pipes.
The court dismissed the complaint after considering a detailed report submitted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which examined the allegations levelled against former Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta and officers of the Jal Shakti Department.
According to the findings placed before the court, no misappropriation of funds was detected during scrutiny of records and no irregularities were found in the tendering process related to procurement under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
The court observed that the allegations made in the complaint were not substantiated by the material examined during the inquiry and held that the protest petition was not maintainable.
The dismissal assumes significance as it marks the second setback to the complainant on the same issue. Parmar had earlier filed a separate complaint containing similar allegations, which was also dismissed by the same court on April 20, 2026.
The matter had additionally figured before the Chief Information Commission in connection with RTI applications filed by the complainant with the Public Health Engineering authorities in Kashmir and Jammu.
In its order issued in November 2025, the Commission had held that the departments concerned had responded in accordance with the provisions of the Right to Information Act and noted that much of the information sought was voluminous and already available in the public domain.
The Commission had further concluded that there was no deliberate or willful denial of information by the concerned authorities. [KNT]