DGCA Official, Corporate Executive Arrested by CBI in Graft Case
Mudavath Devula, Deputy Director General at the Airworthiness Directorate of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a bribery case. The arrest, made yesterday, also involved Bharat Mathur, a senior vice president at a major corporate group, who allegedly attempted to bribe Devula.
The core of the allegations points to Devula demanding an "undue advantage" of ₹2.5 lakh from private individuals. This payment was reportedly in exchange for facilitating the issuance of approvals and permissions for applications pending with the DGCA, specifically for a private aerospace company involved in drone imports.
The CBI registered the case on April 18, preceding the arrests and subsequent searches. Investigations extended to the premises of both the arrested public servant and the corporate executive.
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Corporate Connections and Seized Assets
Mathur's association with an aerospace company engaged in drone imports appears central to the case. During searches conducted across four locations in Delhi, the CBI reported the seizure of ₹37 lakh in cash, along with gold and silver coins, and various digital devices. This indicates a broader scope to the alleged corrupt dealings than the initial bribe amount might suggest.
A Pattern of Allegations at DGCA
This incident is not an isolated event for the DGCA. An opinion piece from August 15, 2024, highlighted broader issues within the regulator, citing "graft" and "incompetence." This suggests a recurring problem with integrity and operational effectiveness within the organization. Previously, the DGCA itself requested the CBI and ED to probe corruption charges against a former official, Capt Anil Gill, accused of taking aircraft as bribes.
Wider Context of Public Sector Corruption Investigations
The CBI's recent activities reveal a consistent pattern of targeting public officials for graft.
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On May 30, 2025, the CBI arrested Chintan Raghuvanshi, a Deputy Director with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Bhubaneswar, and a middleman for allegedly demanding a substantial bribe to settle a money laundering case. Reports indicated negotiations for a ₹5 crore bribe, eventually reduced to ₹2 crore.
On February 8, 2025, a Senior Auditor in the Office of Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA) was arrested along with two private individuals on corruption charges.
On December 20, 2025, the CBI apprehended Lt. Col Deepak Kumar Sharma, a Deputy Planning Officer with the Department of Defence Productions, under the Defence Ministry.
On April 7, 2025, three railway officials, including a Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer and a Senior Section Engineer, were arrested. Searches in this case led to the seizure of approximately ₹63.85 lakh in cash and gold worth nearly ₹3.46 crore.
On May 5, 2025, a Deputy General Manager of Oil India Limited (OIL) and a private company official were arrested. The public servant was allegedly caught with ₹3.34 lakh in cash and documents, and had also demanded gold ornaments.
On June 1, 2025, a senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) official, posted as Additional Director-General with the Directorate of Taxpayer Services, Delhi, was arrested along with another individual for allegedly accepting ₹25 lakh in bribe.
In another instance from April 18, 2021, the CBI booked a Deputy Director-General of the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) and others on graft charges. In that case, ₹1.5 lakh per head was allegedly agreed upon, and the first installment of ₹35 lakh was seized.
Most recently, on April 18, 2026 (yesterday), a Delhi court convicted a CBI Joint Director and a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police for a malicious raid conducted in 2000, highlighting long-standing issues with accountability.
The CBI also arrested a Joint Director General of Foreign Trade in Visakhapatnam on April 12, 2026 (6 days ago), along with two others, for allegedly accepting ₹4 lakh to expedite pending files.
