112 BMC Officials Facing Corruption Charges Still on Job, RTI Documents Reveal
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More than a hundred Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials reportedly facing official corruption charges remain in active service, according to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) records obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) request.
The data reveals that out of 207 civic officers and employees named as accused in ACB cases up to April 30, 2026, 112 are still on the job. Another 68 reached retirement before their cases reached a final legal verdict, leaving only 27 roughly 13% currently under suspension.
Engineering Wing Sees Highest Number of Accused Officials
The RTI findings show that corruption allegations cut through all levels of India’s wealthiest municipal corporation, but the Engineering Department accounts for the largest cluster of cases as per reports.
- 33 Sub-Engineers
- 13 Assistant Engineers
- 13 Junior Engineers
- Multiple Executive Engineers and senior department officials
Because the engineering division oversees multi-crore infrastructure projects spanning city roads, storm-water drains, and civic structures, activists warn that unresolved cases in this sector pose significant financial and structural risks to public works.
Lower-Tier Employees Comprise Significant Share of Cases
While high-value municipal contracts regularly draw public scrutiny, the data demonstrates that lower-tier and field-level staff account for a substantial portion of the recorded cases:
Designation | Number of Accused Personnel |
Sanitation Workers | 48 |
Laborers | 24 |
Supervisors (Mukadams) | 6 |
Peons | 6 |
This spread indicates that bribery allegations span the entire operational ladder of the civic body, from senior administrative approvals to daily field-level services.
Delayed Prosecution Sanctions Prolong Case Timelines
- Systemic Bottleneck: By law, criminal proceedings against public servants require explicit government approval; five bribery trap cases and a disproportionate assets case remain stalled (some since 2024, with the oldest dating back to 2005).
- Activist Reaction: Jeetendra Ghadge of The Young Whistleblowers Foundation called for an inquiry, warning that procedural delays undermine anti-corruption laws and allow accused officials to use slow cases as a "retirement plan."
Pandemic Reinstatements Face Transparency Questions
An RTI disclosure revealed that 43 suspended BMC employees were quietly reinstated during the COVID-19 pandemic under the guise of emergency staffing, but the civic body refused to release their names, sparking outrage from anti-corruption activists over the lack of transparency.
