CBI nabs top Income Tax official, four others in ₹70 lakh bribery case

Hyderabad, May 10, 2025

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions), Hyderabad, along with four others for accepting a bribe of ₹70 lakh to decide an Income Tax appeal in favour of a private party.

The accused official, who also holds additional charge of Appeals Units 7 and 8 under the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Hyderabad, was allegedly running a racket of corrupt dealings with the help of middlemen to manipulate appeal outcomes. The CBI registered a case on May 9 against the official and 14 others for conspiring to seek “undue gratification” in exchange for favourable verdicts.

The trap was laid in Mumbai, where one of the middlemen was caught accepting the ₹70 lakh bribe from a private party on the Commissioner’s behalf. Soon after, the Commissioner and his close associates were arrested in Hyderabad.

Simultaneous searches were launched at 18 locations across Mumbai, Hyderabad, Khammam, Visakhapatnam and New Delhi. Investigators seized incriminating documents, articles, and approximately ₹69 lakh in cash in addition to the bribe amount. The bureau said that further searches are under way.

Those arrested in Mumbai were produced before the Special CBI Court, while the others from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are being produced before local courts.

Investigations are ongoing.

[The Hindu]