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Businessman gets bail in Mithi scam case as court says silt and debris were prima facie removed from river
Shersingh Rathore was arrested on the charge that he had swindled Rs 29 crore from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 2021 by passing off construction debris as silt removed from the Mithi river.
The Mumbai Police claim the accused caused losses to the BMC by conspiring with officials to avoid removing silt from the Mithi riverbed. (File photo)
Months after the Mumbai Police made arrests in the Mithi desilting scam case, a sessions court granted bail to businessman Shersingh Rathore, rejecting the claim that silt was not removed from the river.
The police arrested Rathore, 52, in August 2025 claiming he had swindled Rs 29 crore from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 2021 by passing off construction debris as silt removed from the Mithi river.
The sessions court said the civic body mentioned in its tender papers that the scope of work includes collecting the deposit of silt, debris, sand, grit, stones, etc, from the riverbed. “Thus, the scope of work clearly discloses that the work was not restricted only to remove silt, but debris in the riverbed was also included for removal. Hence, prima facie, I do not find substance in the submission that silt was not removed,” Additional Sessions Judge N G Shukla said in an order passed on February 26.
The court noted that witness statements showed vehicles belonging to Rathore’s company, Maindeep Enterprises, used to come to the dumping sites for debris and 20 per cent silt. “Thus, from these statements, it becomes clear that the transport vehicles of the applicant had dumped debris as well as silt at the dumping sites and they received amounts from the applicant’s company for dumping such material,” the court said.
The investigation had led to multiple arrests with the police claiming that the accused caused losses to the civic body by conspiring with officials to avoid removing silt from the riverbed, a crucial pre-monsoon maintenance task to prevent flooding and waterlogging.
The court also dismissed several other irregularities Rathore was accused of, including that he had entered into an agreement with the company of the main accused, Ketan Kadam, to provide machines for the work, even though the company did not have them. It said that prima facie correspondence showed that in April 2021, Rathore filed a complaint that machines were not received and that he also sent its copies to the police and the BMC, which means he was not part of the conspiracy.
The court said other allegations, such as the claim of document forgery involving the landowners of the dumping sites, could be dealt with during the trial.
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The court said the investigation into the extent of BMC officials’ role was yet to be completed.
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