Corruption

WB govt grants CBI sanction to investigate officials accused in graft cases

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday said his government has granted the CBI sanction to proceed against officials accused in corruption cases linked to recruitments in schools and civic bodies, while asserting the administration would follow a "zero-tolerance" policy towards graft. At a press conference at the state secretariat, Nabanna, he claimed the previous dispensation had for nearly four years withheld permission for CBI to act in four cases involving senior government officials accused of corruption. "The previous government had blocked four CBI cases for the last four years. Under the law, the CBI or an investigating agency requires sanction from the state government to file charge sheets, prosecutions, or initiate action against government officials accused of corruption," Adhikari said. He claimed the TMC government "deliberately withheld those permissions to shield corrupt bureaucrats and officials". "We have now granted the necessary sanction to the

Two former Chinese defence ministers sentenced to death for corruption

Two former Chinese defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve over graft charges on Thursday, official media reported. Wei and his successor Li, who worked under President Xi Jinping's watch, were expelled from the ruling Communist Party in 2024. Wei served as Defence Minister from 2018 to 2023, and Li barely served a few months as his successor. Li, a Chinese aerospace engineer who headed the People's Liberation Army's all-important Rocket (Missile) Force, was personally picked up for the top defence post by Xi himself.

CBI arrests officials of DGCA, Reliance Industries in drone bribery probe

CBI said it had acted ‌following a tip-off that Reliance executive and govt official had settled on an amount of ₹15 lakh to process three applications related to drone imports by Asteria Aerospace

ED raids I-PAC executives, others in West Bengal coal 'scam' case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted fresh searches at some premises linked to the executives of political consultancy firm I-PAC and some others in multiple cities, officials said. The raids are being undertaken at locations in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi in connection with an alleged coal smuggling and pilferage scam of West Bengal, according to officials. The premises of I-PAC co-founder and director Rishi Raj Singh are among those covered, they said. The federal probe agency conducted raids in this case in January at the I-PAC office as well as at the Kolkata residence of its founder and one of the directors, Pratik Gandhi. Singh and Jain were recently summoned by the ED to record their statements. They have approached the Delhi High Court to quash these notices issued to them, citing ongoing election work in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Nepal's 100-point plan aims to end politics in campuses, bureaucracy

The Balen Shah-led government unveiled a 100-point reform agenda, seeking to depoliticise campuses and bureaucracy while pushing anti-corruption probes

Corruption Perception Index: India ranks 91st among 182 nations; scores 39

The Corruption Perceptions Index, first released in 1995, is used to assess public sector corruption worldwide. It evaluates 182 countries and territories using data from 13 external sources

Mumbai court rejects plea seeking probe against Sebi, BSE and NSE officials

A Mumbai anti-corruption court dismissed a plea seeking a probe against Sebi, BSE and NSE officials, calling it frivolous, unsubstantiated and an abuse of process

China's top general under probe for sharing nuclear secrets with US

China's Defence Ministry on Saturday announced that two top military officers have been placed under investigation for serious violations of Communist Party discipline and national laws

Thousands rally in Serbia as students vow to fight against corruption

Thousands of people rallied Saturday in Serbia as university students announced a new stage in their struggle against President Aleksandar Vucic's tenure. They have led more than a year of mass demonstrations that shook his autocratic government in the Balkan country. Protesters in Novi Sad, chanting "thieves," accused the government of rampant corruption that they believe also led to a November 2024 train station disaster in the northern city that killed 16 people and triggered the nationwide movement for change. Vucic has refused to schedule an immediate early election that students have demanded. Hundreds of people have been detained, or reported losing their jobs or facing pressure for opposing the government. University students told the crowd in Novi Sad on Saturday that after last year's protests, they will now offer a plan on how to rid Serbia of corruption and restore the rule of law. They proposed banning corrupt officials from politics and investigating their wealth as ..

'Operation Short Circuit' finds KSEB officials took ₹16.5 lakh in bribes

VACB has detected corruption and widespread irregularities in the KSEB during 'Operation Short Circuit', a state-level surprise inspection conducted to unearth malpractices in the utility, officials said on Saturday. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in a statement said the 'Operation Short Circuit' was conducted based on information received regarding large-scale irregularities, corruption, and nepotism in the awarding of contracts of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) with the connivance of officials. Similarly, the bureau received information that some officials were accepting bribes in the form of commissions from contractors and clearing bills without proper inspection of works. The inspection was carried out at 70 selected electrical section offices across the state, from 10.30 am onwards on Friday. The contract works executed by KSEB over the past five years were subjected to scrutiny, VACB said. During the inspections, Vigilance found that 41 officials acro

SC split on validity of prior sanction bar under anti-corruption law

Owing to the divergent views, the matter has been placed before the Chief Justice of India for reference to a larger Bench

Delhi HC seeks CBI reply on Lalu Prasad Yadav's plea in IRCTC scam case

In October last year, the trial court framed charges against Yadav, his family and 11 other accused

Pakistan's former PM Imran Khan sentenced to 17 years in graft case

Judge Shahrukh Arjumand of an anti-graft court handed Khan the maximum prison sentence for illegally undervaluing and then obtaining expensive gifts from the national treasury when he was premier

Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan, wife sentenced to 17 yrs in corruption case

A Pakistan accountability court on Saturday sentenced jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years imprisonment each in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case. The case is about alleged fraud in state gifts, which the former first couple received from the Saudi government in 2021. Special court judge Shahrukh Arjumand announced the judgment in the case in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Khan and Bushra were awarded 10 years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Pakistan Penal Code and seven years under different Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10 million on each of them.

Ex-Nepal ministers, Chinese firm charged with graft in Pokhara airport case

Former Nepali ministers, officials and a Chinese company were charged with corruption over financial irregularities during the construction of an international airport. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed on Sunday cases against 55 people and the China CAMC Engineering Company Limited, one of the biggest such cases in the Himalayan nation, accusing them of inflating construction expenses by more than USD 74 million. It remains unclear when the hearing will begin. Two officials of the Chinese company have been named in the charges filed at the Special Court in Kathmandu, which handles corruption cases related to government dealings. The bidding agreed on with the government in 2012 was set at USD 169.6 million, but Nepali officials increased the amount to a little over USD 244 million "in collusion with the Chinese company," the commission said. The airport, at the resort city of Pokhara, 200 kilometres west of Kathmandu, was built with a loan from China Exi

Thousands in Philippines protest corruption, demand return of stolen funds

Thousands of demonstrators, including members of the Roman Catholic church clergy, protested in the Philippines on Sunday, calling for the swift prosecution of top legislators and officials implicated in a corruption scandal that has buffeted the Asian democracy. Left-wing groups led a separate protest in Manila's main park with a blunt demand for all implicated government officials to immediately resign and face prosecution. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been scrambling to quell public outrage over the massive corruption blamed for substandard, defective or non-existent flood control projects across an archipelago long prone to deadly flooding and extreme weather in tropical Asia. More than 17,000 police officers were deployed in metropolitan Manila to secure the separate protests. The Malacanang presidential palace complex in Manila was in a security lockdown with key access roads and bridges blocked by anti-riot police forces, trucks and barbed wire railings. In a deeply ..

Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina gets 21 yrs prison sentence in corruption cases

A Bangladesh court on Thursday sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to 21 years of imprisonment in three corruption cases, local media reported. The three cases were lodged over alleged irregularities in allocating plots in the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol, state-run BSS news agency said. The judge pronounced the judgment in absence of the convict as she is yet to be arrested and was tried in absentia. Hasina was sentenced to seven years in each case, totalling 21 years in prison. "The plot was allotted to Sheikh Hasina without any application and in a manner that exceeded the legally authorised jurisdiction," the court observed in its judgment.

Corruption scandal pressures Zelenskyy to show greater accountability

Pressure is mounting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to take stronger action to show accountability in the face of a corruption scandal presenting the greatest threat to his government since Russia's full-scale invasion. Last week, Zelenskyy dismissed two top officials and imposed sanctions on close associates after government investigators revealed that USD 100 million had been embezzled from the country's energy sector through kickbacks paid by contractors. But that hasn't quieted the political storm. After more than three years of war in which Ukrainians face regular power outages as a result of Russia's fierce bombardment, corruption in the energy sector isn't sitting well with the public. Calls are growing for Zelenskyy to remove his longtime chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, who many consider to be Ukraine's de facto vice president. Neither Zelenskyy nor Yermak have been accused of any wrongdoing by those leading the corruption investigation. Yet Zelenskyy's political

Over 65% owners paid part of property deal in cash: LocalCircles Survey

A LocalCircles survey says black money use remains rampant in India's real estate market, with two-thirds of buyers paying in cash and 44 per cent admitting to bribing multiple officials

From Dhaka to Colombo, Gen Z has started raging at rotten governance

Each revolt in our neighbourhood was driven by corruption, with lessons for India