The following is a list of proven scandals in India since independence, including political, financial and corporate scandals. The year, or decade, is when the scandal was first reported.
Pegasus Snooping Scandal: An international investigative journalism initiative by the name of Pegasus Project that alleged that the Pegasus spyware was used on several individuals including ministers, opposition leaders, political strategists, judges, journalists, administrators and activists.[90][91]
Delhi liquour scam: A political scandal involving the Delhi Government's Excise Policy for 2021–2022, introduced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the subsequent legal investigations, including the arrests of senior AAP politicians in connection with the allegations.
West Bengal School Service Commission recruitment scam: On 23 July 2022, Education Minister of West Bengal and Secretary General of All India Trinamool Congress (ruling party of West Bengal State) Partha Chatterjee was arrested from his residence by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the alleged State School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam cases along with his aide actress Arpita Mukherjee. He was admitted to SSKM Hospital after complaining of chest pains.[92] Later, he was shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar where doctors said that he suffers from chronic diseases but does not need immediate hospitalization. He is currently in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate.[93] As of 28 July 2022, the Enforcement Directorate has recovered ₹49.8 Crores cash, gold worth ₹5.07 Crores, ₹56 lakhs worth foreign currency and coded diaries from properties related to him and Arpita Mukherjee.[94] On 28 July he was expelled from the cabinet Ministries he was in charge of and suspended from the TMC.[95][96] On 5 August 2022, he and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were sent to jail custody. On 11 April 2024 it was revealed that 27,000 school teacher are fake which are not appeared in School Service commission in 2016 by Kolkata High Court. College service commission was also accused for seat selling (2015–2023) and Ph.D. (2015–2022) seat selling by Kalyani university's professors.
Adani Group scandal: In January 2023, Hindenburg Research revealed that it had short positions in India's Adani Group, alleged to be a close ally of Narendra Modi's administration,[97] and flagged debt and accounting concerns. Concurrently, Hindenburg released a report claiming that Indian conglomerate Adani Group "has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades."[98] Soon after the report's release, Adani Group companies experienced an acute decline in their share prices.[99][100][101] In a follow-up piece, The Guardian indicated that Hindenburg called on the Adani Group to sue if they believed the report was inaccurate.[102][103] By the end of February 2023, the group lost $150 billion in value. Gautam Adani's personal net worth came down as he fell from 3rd richest in the world to 30th richest within a month after the report was published.[104][105][106] The opposition leaders called it the "biggest scam" and Modi has been criticized for his lack of reaction towards the scandal.[107][108][109]
Mahadev Betting App Case: The Mahadev Betting App Case is a scandal involving an illegal online gambling platform that was used to launder money. The app was run by Dubai-based Saurabh Chandrakar and his accomplice Ravi Uppal, both of whom hail from Chhattisgarh.
Neet Scam 2024: Refers to uproar caused by sudden declaration of NEET results, and allegations of irregularities and paper leak.
Lok Sabha Exit Poll-Stock Market Scam 2024: On 1 June 2024, in the evening of the last day of polling in the 2024 Lok Sabha election major media houses broadcast exit polls which predicted landslide majority of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On 3 June 2024 Monday, this led to massive buying in the stock markets specially in the companies friendly to the BJP. However, on June 4, the actual results were completely different than the exit polls prediction. The markets crashed which led to loss of approximate Rs 30 lakh crores to the retail investors. The main opposition party Indian National Congress alleged that fake exit polls were used to create false hype in order to manipulate stock markets.[110]
Ayodhya land scam- On June 10, 2024, major media house Indian Express published an investigative article which found that after the 2019 Supreme Court verdict in favour of Ram Temple there was 30 per cent rise in the number of land transactions in at least 25 villages in Ayodhya and adjoining Gonda and Basti districts that fall within a radius of 15 km of the temple. Many of these land deals were linked to politicians, senior officials and their relatives.[111] The investigation also revealed that the administration did not revise the land circle rates for the past 7 years even after the Supreme Court's verdict although rates have been revised in the adjoining districts.[112]
Shourie, A. (2006). Indian Controversies. New Delhi: Rupa & Co.
In 2020, Real Estate Scam Fighters[113][114] is formed with a basic mission to debunk various Frauds in the real estate sector and create awareness for the investors.
^Balaji, J. (22 October 2013). "Lalu, Sharma disqualified". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
^"Scorpene deal hit by scam". The Financial Express. New Delhi, India. 4 October 2005. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
^"A Sea of Subterfuge". Outlook India. India. 21 January 2008. Archived from the original on 27 January 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
^V.P., Raju (27 September 2014). "Aavin rip off was well planned". Chennai: Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 28 September 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.