Supreme Court Rejects Bail Plea Of Former Gujarat IAS Officer Pradeep Sharma In 2023 Illegal Land Allotment Case

The Supreme Court today(Monday) rejected bail to retired IAS officer Pradeep Nirankarnath Sharma in connection to a 2023 illegal land allotment case lodged at Bhuj in Kutch.

Sharma is accused of corruption and criminal breach of trust for alleged illegal allotment of government land for monetary benefits as the then-collector of Kutch district. The FIR against him was lodged in 2023 under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, for regular bail in connection with the FIR registered with the CID Crime Boarder Zone Police Station for the offence punishable under Sections 409, 217, 120B, 114 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 7(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed an order:

"We find no good reason to interfere with the order. The appeal is accordingly dismissed."

The present SLP was filed challenging the order of the Gujarat High Court rejecting his regular bail plea in March, last year. The High Court expressed reluctance to favor Sharma, citing numerous FIRs registered against him for similar offenses during his tenure in a high government position.

Justice Divyesh Joshi, rejecting Sharma's plea had noted, “It is pertinent to note that in the recent times, there was an increase in socio economic offences in the country. These are the offences which are solely committed for personal gains. These crimes are affecting every part of the country's economic structure and wrecking the people's faith in the system. In the following circumstances, the person is very influential and there is every chance to mislead the case. So in such cases bail should not be given. Allowing bail application depends upon the nature of the offence and related circumstances.”

Case Details: PRADEEP NIRANKARNATH SHARMA v. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT AND ANR| SLP(Crl) No. 6185/2023