The Supreme Court on Friday declined to quash the criminal proceedings against Pradip N Sharma, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, regarding alleged irregularities in land allotments during his tenure as the District Collector of Bhuj in 2006. The Court, however, granted him anticipatory bail, acknowledging the significant delay in the registration of the case, which was initiated six years after the purported events.
Presiding over the case, Justice Vikram Nath emphasized the dismissal of Sharma’s petition to terminate the criminal case but recognized the need for bail due to the prolonged period before charges were formally lodged in 2012. The decision upheld a previous ruling by the Gujarat High Court dated March 1, 2019, which had also refused to quash the proceedings.
The allegations center around the allocation of 17 acres of land intended to rehabilitate traders affected by the 2001 earthquake in the Beed Gate market area. It is claimed that the land, which was designated for the most severely affected G5 category victims, was sold at undervalued prices to beneficiaries who were not eligible for the aid. Sharma is accused of favoring over 300 unqualified industrial establishments among the 400 beneficiaries.
During the Supreme Court hearing, Sharma’s defense, led by advocate Divyesh Pratap Singh, argued that the near six-year delay in filing the FIR compromised the integrity of the case. Sharma also suggested that the allegations were politically motivated, attributing them to his and his brother’s strained relations with the current state political leadership. He further contended that administrative oversights during the post-earthquake recovery period might have led to less rigorous document verification.
Sharma defended the pricing of the land, pointing out that the rates at which lands were allotted were comparable to, if not lower than, neighboring plots during that time. He also noted that subsequent officers extended the construction timelines for the allotments, which he interpreted as validation of the original decisions.
