20 ACB cases closed as govt denies prosecution sanction
One such case involves former Mahbubnagar municipal commissioner Vadde Surender who was caught allegedly accepting a Rs 1.65 lakh bribe on Oct 22, 2020. ACB registered a DA case against him in 2018 after allegedly detecting assets worth crores of rupees in his name. He was arrested in Feb 2018. In 2025, the investigating officer sought closure of the FIR after the govt recommended a departmental inquiry instead. The ACB special court accepted the closure report on Nov 11, 2025. ACB cases against a DSP who had worked with HMDA and two inspectors from the Hyderabad police commissionerate, booked in bribery cases in 2021 and 2023, were also closed in 2024 and 2025 after the govt opted for departmental action instead of criminal prosecution.
ACB officials allegedly caught him in the act while he was accepting the money to forward quotations to the district collector for approval and issue a work order for setting up a chlorination plant. Surrender was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Several disproportionate assets (DA) cases met a similar fate. Among them was the case against former HMDA director (planning) K Purushotham Reddy.
On Feb 13, 2026, acting on the govt’s decision, the ACB DG directed the investigating officer to place the GOs before the court and seek closure of the FIR. The ACB special court in Hyderabad accepted the final report and closed the case against Surender on Aug 14.
But while the ACB director general, following completion of the investigation, submitted a final report in 2021-22 recommending prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the department of municipal administration and urban development (MAUD) decided not to accord sanction for prosecution on Feb 27, 2025. Through a memo, principal secretary M Dana Kishore directed that departmental action be initiated instead.