Case file · TSPSC · surfaced 13 Mar 2023

TSPSC insider leak: confidential-section computers accessed; exams cancelled

Stalled documented status: Charge sheet filed

Confidence C — based on the press record (archived below). No primary documents on file yet; treat names of agencies, dates and figures as reported, not established.

Two TSPSC insiders — an assistant section officer and an outsourced network administrator — allegedly gained unauthorised access to the confidential section's computers and copied question papers for several recruitment exams, selling them for about Rs 1.63 crore in total. The leak surfaced via a complaint by a TSPSC assistant secretary; a case was registered at Begum Bazar PS and an SIT formed. 49 people were arrested and a preliminary charge sheet was filed on 9 June 2023. Affected exams, including AE/AEE, were cancelled and re-held.

Examination: AE/AEE/DAO & other recruitment exams 2022-23
Conducting body: Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC)
Exam date: 5 Mar 2023
Leak date (as documented): —
Surfaced: 13 Mar 2023
States: Telangana
Candidates affected: not established
Leak vector: Insider (digital)
State govt at the time: BRS
Last reviewed: 11 Jun 2026

Stall clock — no docket movement for

1,098

days (3y 3d) · last movement 2023-06-09

Accountability Gap Index

national average 0.97 / 7 · how this is scored →

3 / 7

✓ FIR within 30 days
✓ Charge sheet within 180 days
✗ Any conviction
✗ Exam cancelled & fully re-held
✗ Fee refund documented
✓ Official permanently removed
✗ Reform gazette-notified

Each milestone scores one point only when the register holds a document for it. The gap is what the missing points describe.

How it surfaced

Who found it

The conducting body's own office

TSPSC's own confidential section was the source: an assistant section officer and a network engineer copied question papers from the commission's computers; the SIT said papers for multiple exams travelled through personal devices.

The conducting body's first response

Acknowledged it

TSPSC cancelled or postponed a series of examinations (AE, AEE, DAO, Group-I prelims) and the government constituted an SIT; the episode became a statewide political crisis.

The docket

Every legal action on record, in order. Each row cites its document.

13 Mar 2023

FIR registered · Begum Bazar PS, Hyderabad

Case on a complaint by a TSPSC assistant secretary; later moved to the Central Crime Station and an SIT.

per: SIT files charge sheet in Telangana paper leak case (Hindustan Times, 10 Jun 2023)
15 Mar 2023

Arrest · SIT, Hyderabad Police

49 persons arrested over the following weeks; one accused abroad.

per: SIT files charge sheet in Telangana paper leak case (Hindustan Times, 10 Jun 2023)
9 Jun 2023

Charge sheet filed · Jurisdictional court, Hyderabad

Preliminary charge sheet after CFSL forensics; total transactions around Rs 1.63 crore.

per: SIT files charge sheet in Telangana paper leak case (Hindustan Times, 10 Jun 2023)

What candidates got

Outcome	Ordered by	Order date	Detail
Exam cancelled (full)	TSPSC	22 Mar 2023	Affected exams (incl. AE/AEE) cancelled and re-conducted.

Officials & institutions implicated

Recorded at position level. A personal name appears only in the "Named individuals" table below, behind the naming gate.

Arrested

Assistant Section Officer, TSPSC confidential section · 13 Mar 2023

Commission's own employee; SIT case.
Arrested

Network engineer (outsourced), TSPSC · 13 Mar 2023

After the suspension

Suspension is where most coverage ends. This is what the record says happened next — tracking rules →

Assistant Section Officer, TSPSC

Dismissed / removed · 17 Mar 2023

The insider who copied papers from the commission's systems was arrested and removed from service.

⚑ marks an official who returned to, or never left, the ministry whose exam leaked.

The investigation trail

Every SIT, committee and inquiry announced for this case — and whether its report ever became public.

SIT, Hyderabad Police

Formed 15 Mar 2023 · by Government of Telangana · report submitted 15 Jun 2023

Report status: public

Charge sheet against 37 of 46 accused filed June 2023, citing payments of Rs 1.63 crore; public through the court record.

What it cost candidates

₹111 crore estimated

The workings

Across the cancelled TSPSC exams (Group I prelims re-run alone had 5.54 lakh candidates retaking it; AE and divisional accounts officer exams were also re-held) the fee burn at Rs 200 per sitting exceeds Rs 11 crore, before travel.

Travel and wage loss excluded; per-exam registration splits not consistently published.

no fee refund documented No refund recorded; re-exams admitted candidates on the original fee.

methodology →

per: TSPSC notifications; reported re-exam attendance.

The human cost

1 death reported in connection with this case

In October 2023, the death by suicide of a young exam aspirant, Pravallika, was reported in Hyderabad amid repeated cancellations and postponements; aspirant groups linked it to the disruption of the exam calendar. Recorded as reported.

Recorded as reported in the cited press record — not as adjudicated findings. This register lists these deaths because they are part of the documented consequence of examination failures, and for no other reason.

Sources on file

Tier 2 · reported SIT files charge sheet in Telangana paper leak case — Hindustan Times · 10 Jun 2023 [archived]
Tier 2 · reported TSPSC paper leak: 49 arrested, money trail traced — The Indian Express · 10 Jun 2023 [archived]

Status log

Every status this register has ever assigned to this case. Append-only.

13 Mar 2023	ALLEGED	Allegations surfaced publicly.
13 Mar 2023	ALLEGED → FIR_REGISTERED	Case on a complaint by a TSPSC assistant secretary; later moved to the Central Crime Station and an SIT.
15 Mar 2023	FIR_REGISTERED → ARRESTS_MADE	49 persons arrested over the following weeks; one accused abroad.
9 Jun 2023	ARRESTS_MADE → CHARGESHEET_FILED	Preliminary charge sheet after CFSL forensics; total transactions around Rs 1.63 crore.

Act on this record

File an RTI on this case pre-filled from the docket · RTI Act 2005 · ₹10 fee

The application below is pre-filled from this case file. Add your name and address, then send it to the Public Information Officer of Begum Bazar PS, Hyderabad — online via rtionline.gov.in (central bodies) or your state RTI portal.

To: The Public Information Officer,
Begum Bazar PS, Hyderabad

Subject: Request under the Right to Information Act, 2005 — TSPSC insider leak: confidential-section computers accessed; exams cancelled

Under the Right to Information Act 2005, I request the following information:

1. Current status of FIR No. [number] dated 13 Mar 2023 concerning the question paper leak in AE/AEE/DAO & other recruitment exams 2022-23.
2. Whether a charge sheet has been filed in this matter; if yes, its date and the court where it was filed.
3. Names and current postings of all officials suspended in connection with this matter.
4. Whether any suspended official has been reinstated; if yes, the order reference and date.
5. Date and outcome of the last court hearing in this matter.

I am enclosing the application fee of Rs. 10 as required. If this application falls outside your office's purview, kindly transfer it under Section 6(3) of the Act and inform me.

Regards,
[Applicant name]
[Address]
[Date]

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