List of scandals in India

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.

1950s

 * 1958 Mundhra scandal (₹12 million)

1970s

 * 1971 Nagarwala case (₹6 million)

1980s

 * 1985 Fodder scam (₹9.5 billion)
 * 1987 Bofors scandal

1990s

 * 1992 Indian stock market scam (₹50 billion)
 * 1992 Stamp paper scam
 * 1992 Ajmer rape case
 * 1996 Disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa
 * 1997 Tatra Truck scam
 * 1997-2006 Jalgaon housing scam
 * 1998 Ajmer rape case
 * 1998 Anubhav Plantations scam
 * Ice cream parlour sex scandal
 * Purulia arms drop case
 * Palmolein Oil Import Scam (Kerala)
 * Hawala scandal
 * SNC-Lavalin Kerala hydroelectric scandal (₹3.74 billion)

2000

 * India-South Africa match fixing scandal: Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were banned from cricket for life and 4 years respectively.

2001

 * Operation West End
 * Ketan Parekh securities scam (₹320 million)
 * Roshni Act corruption scandal

2002

 * Stamp paper scam (₹200 billion)
 * Best Bakery case


 * Provident Fund scam
 * Taj corridor case

2003

 * Uttar Pradesh food grain scam
 * JBT teacher recruitment scam

2004

 * Manesar land scam

2005

 * Scorpene deal scam: A part of the Navy war room leak.

2006

 * Ludhiana City Centre scam (₹15 billion)
 * Navy war room leak case (6 billion)
 * Fatwas for cash scandal

2008

 * Hasan Ali Khan money-laundering case
 * Indian Army ration scam (₹50 billion)
 * 2G spectrum case
 * Cash-for-votes scandal
 * Operation Kamala

2009

 * Deendayal Upadhyaya Trust land scam
 * Satyam scandal

2010

 * Housing-loan scam
 * Concerns and controversies over the 2010 Commonwealth Games
 * Adarsh Housing Society scam

2011

 * Belekeri port scam: An estimated loss to the public exchequer of ₹35,000 crores (approx US$6 billion)

2012

 * DIAL Scam (₹1,669.72 billion)
 * Granite scam in Tamil Nadu (about inr 160000000000)
 * Haryana Forestry case
 * Indian coal allocation scam
 * Karnataka Wakf Board Land Scam
 * Maharashtra Irrigation Scam (about ₹720 billion)
 * Uttar Pradesh NRHM scam
 * Uttar Pradesh sand mining scandal
 * National Herald corruption case
 * 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case.

2013

 * Vyapam scam
 * NSEL case (₹5,500 crore)
 * Railway bribery scam - The CBI arrested railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew for allegedly accepting a ₹9 million bribe for a Railway Board member.
 * 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing and betting case
 * 2013 Mumbai gang rape, commonly referred the Shakti Mills gang rape.
 * 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots
 * 2013 Kerala solar panel scam
 * 2013 Indian helicopter bribery scandal
 * Madhya Pradesh Scholarship scam
 * Saradha Group financial scandal: Collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies believed to be running so-called chit funds

2014

 * Aavin scam - Ten-year adulteration of milk supplied from societies of the Tamil Nadu State Milk Union, estimated at ₹27 lakh per day. The owner of the truck was arrested in Chennai.
 * Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority scam, West Bengal (₹200 crore)
 * Gurugram Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab case

2015

 * Murder of Sandeep Kothari
 * Lalit Modi case
 * 2015 Cash for Vote Scam - MLA Revanth Reddy was jailed in Telangana.
 * NSE co-location scam (about ₹50,000 crore) – Insider trading on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) from 2010 to 2014 The case came to light in 2015.

2016

 * Narada sting operation
 * Freedom 251 scam - A ponzi scheme, that was mounted by an entrepreneur named Mohit Goel through a company called Ringing Bells Private Limited. The company promised Mobile phones at 251 Indian rupee to customers and collected money. They failed to meet the obligation.
 * Fugitive Economic Offender, Vijay Mallya escaped from India on March 2, 2016, through Jet Airways Delhi - London flight from Indira Gandhi International Airport.
 * Delta Meghwal rape case

2017

 * 2017 Unnao rape case

2018

 * Kathua rape case
 * Punjab National Bank Scam: A fraudulent letter of undertaking worth ₹11,600 crore (1.77 billion) was issued at the Punjab National Bank branch in Brady House, Mumbai, making the bank liable for the amount. The fraudulent transactions, linked to Nirav Modi, were first noticed by a new employee of the bank. Two branch employees were involved in the scam, in which the bank's core banking system was bypassed to raise payment notes to overseas branches of other Indian banks (including Allahabad Bank, Axis Bank and Union Bank of India) with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Three jewellers (Gitanjali Group and its subsidiaries, Gili and Nakshatra) are also under investigation. Mehul Choksi is also accused in the scandal.

2019

 * Karvy Scam
 * INX Media case: Against former Union Minister P. Chidambaram
 * Hyderabad gang rape and murder case

2020

 * Kerala gold smuggling scandal: On June 30, 2020, The customs officials at the airport detained diplomatic baggage from Dubai which turned out to be a consignment carrying illegal gold. This smuggling is alleged to have connection with top echelons of Kerala Government and is under probe by agencies such as National Investigation Agency, Enforcement Directorate etc.
 * Republic TV TRP manipulation scam: In October 2020, Mumbai Police filed a charge sheet against India Today, News Nation, Republic TV, and multiple Marathi channels on grounds of manipulation of TRP.
 * Bengaluru drug raids: In August and September Karnataka Police arrested and quizzed numerous actors and individuals working in Kannada cinema industry in connection with drug abuse and peddling.
 * Hathras Gang Rape On 14 September 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, by four upper caste men. She died two weeks later in a Delhi hospital.

2021

 * 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.
 * Delhi liquour scam

2022

 * 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. 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. 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. On 28 July he was expelled from the cabinet Ministries he was in charge of and suspended from the TMC.  On 5 August 2022, he and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were sent to jail custody. On 11th 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.

2023

 * 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, 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." Soon after the report's release, Adani Group companies experienced an acute decline in their share prices.   In a follow-up piece, The Guardian indicated that Hindenburg called on the Adani Group to sue if they believed the report was inaccurate.   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.   The opposition leaders called it the "biggest scam" and Modi has been criticized for his lack of reaction towards the scandal.

2024

 * 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.