AHMEDABAD: Data shared by the Gujarat government in the Assembly reveals that 187 officials were booked by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the past year. However, only 37 convictions were secured, while 101 accused were acquitted. Lower-rung Class-3 staff dominate the list of those booked.
Responding to a pointed query by Congress MLA Amit Chavda, the government disclosed that cases were registered against 187 officials and employees by the ACB on bribery charges over the past year. Of these, only 37 cases were proven, while a staggering 101 ended in acquittals.
A closer look at the departmental classification data reveals a stark trend: most of the accused officials belong to Class-3 ranks.
The Home Department accounted for the highest number of accused employees at 63, of whom 60 were from Class-3 posts.
The Revenue Department followed with 27 accused officials, again largely comprising mid-level staff, reinforcing the long-standing link between land-related documentation and bribery complaints.
The Panchayat, Rural Housing and Rural Development Department recorded 17 cases, highlighting the exposure of decentralised rural schemes to transactional corruption risks.
The data spans multiple governance sectors, suggesting that corruption allegations are not isolated but spread across administrative layers. The Education Department reported 10 accused officials, while the Urban Development and Urban Housing Department reported seven, indicating scrutiny in civic infrastructure and public service delivery systems.
Infrastructure-linked departments also appeared on the ACB radar. The Energy and Petrochemicals Department recorded eight accused officials, and Industries and Mines reported seven, pointing to vulnerabilities in regulatory and approval processes. The Narmada, Water Resources, Water Supply and Kalpsar Department added nine accused officials, underscoring the high-stakes nature of water and irrigation-related decisions.
Smaller but significant figures were reported in the Forest and Environment Department (six), Finance Department (three), Roads and Buildings Department (three), Ports and Transport Department (three), and Agriculture and Cooperation Department (three), indicating that no governance vertical remains entirely untouched.