MUMBAI: A sessions court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to contractor Lokesh Onkarlal Jain, an accused in the alleged ₹65-crore Mithi river desilting scam, holding that the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had failed to make out a prima facie case requiring his custodial interrogation.Mumbai, India - May 18, 2023: State of Maharashtra Hon. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner and Administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal inspecting the desilting works of Mithi River at BKC in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)Jain, a partner of Bhumika Transport, is accused of using forged machine-hire agreements, fabricated MOUs for dumping sites, fake transport records and manipulated photographs to fraudulently obtain ₹24.49 crore from the BMC for desilting work between 2023 and 2024.He was named a wanted accused during the investigation, though not initially in the FIR.Granting relief, the additional sessions judge N.G. Shukla held that the prosecution’s allegations were not borne out by the material placed before the court.The judge noted that inspection records confirmed the deployment of the desilting machines and ruled that, “It is not a case of prosecution that the applicant had not used both the machines in the desilting work.” Citing an earlier Bombay High Court order in the case of a co-accused Ketan Kadam, observed, “Prima facie, it cannot be said that the agreement of hire is a forged document.”The court also rejected the EOW’s claim that no desilting work had been carried out, relying on BMC inspection reports and a work completion certificate showing that 1,87,120 metric tonnes of desilted material had been removed and transported.“In view of this inspection note and work completion certificate, prima facie, it cannot be accepted that the silt was not removed and dumped at dumping sites,” the judge held.Referring to the allegedly forged dumping-site MOU bearing the signature of a person who had died decades earlier, the court held that this, by itself, did not establish wrongful loss to the BMC. The court also dismissed the EOW’s reliance on photos showing debris being transported, noting the tender required removal of debris and floating material along with silt.The judge further observed that Jain had cooperated with the investigation and that key records had already been seized from BMC officials. Holding that custodial interrogation was unnecessary, the court granted him anticipatory bail on a ₹1-lakh personal bond, with conditions that he cooperate with the probe and not travel abroad without court permission.The EOW had argued that Jain was a “habitual offender” facing six similar criminal cases and therefore did not deserve anticipatory bail, but the court did not specifically address that contention.The case stems from an EOW FIR registered in May 2025 against contractors, BMC officials and middlemen over alleged irregularities in Mithi river desilting contracts. Investigators have alleged that forged documents and manipulated records caused the civic body a wrongful loss of around ₹65 crore. The probe later expanded and the Enforcement Directorate has since been investigating the alleged money trail.