Hyderabad: A response to a Right to Information (RTI) petition has revealed that only 25 per cent of cases registered by the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) get approval for prosecution.
The RTI filed by the M Padmnabha Reddy, president of Forum for Good Governance, revealed that 621 cases were registered by the Telangana ACB in the last five years. While most government officials face disciplinary actions in their respective departments.
In 2023-24, the ACB closed 19 cases, out of which nine accused were convicted and 10 were acquitted. In 2024-2025, 22 cases were closed with 12 convictions and 10 acquittals. The ACB courts are disposing of just 20 cases annually.
Speaking to Siasat.com, Reddy explained that when the ACB registers cases and sends a report to the government . “The approval for prosecution needs to be expedited. However, in most cases the approval takes one or two years,” he said.
Reddy added that most officials are asked to appear for departmental enquiry, which down plays the significance of the case. After the government approval, the ACB files a charge sheet against the accused and submits in the court.
He added that the cases remain pending for 10-15 years. “There should be no delay in prosecution in ACB cases . Everything is proven and the officials are caught red handed,” he added.
Based on the data, the Forum for Good Governance urged Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy to take measures to curb corruption in the state. Substantiating his claim regarding the delay in prosecution, Reddy explained that in 2008, Badru Nayak, a government official was arrested in a disproportionate assets case. It took 16 months just for prosecution permission and the charge sheet went in by 2011.
The case is still pending. Nayak was reinstated into service and was caught in another case of bribery.
In a letter to the chief minister, the Forum For Good Governance put forth some suggestions to expedite the cases.
The ACB should be granted permission to prosecute within one month of the request. The accused officers shouldn’t be given any posting until the case is disposed. Proscecuting officer should ensure that the case is being disposed in two years.
On December 16, the ACB nabbed a deputy executive engineer at Osmania University for accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000.
The accused officer, working at the Building Division of the university, was caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) when he accepted part payment of Rs 6,000 from a complainant out of Rs 11,000 for doing an official favour, a release from ACB said.
The official favour was “for releasing the bills amounting to Rs 7.37 lakh towards the renovation works executed by the complainant at Maneru Boys Hostel, OU campus, and for not causing any obstacles in future contract works at the OU campus,” it said.
Earlier, the accused officer had accepted an initial bribe of Rs 5,000 through a digital payments provider, the ACB said.
The bribe of Rs 6,000 was recovered from the possession of the accused officer, the ACB said, adding he performed his duty “improperly and dishonestly to obtain undue advantage”. The case is under investigation.
With inputs from PTI
This post was last modified on December 19, 2025 4:48 pm