Corruption
IAS Officer Jailed for Accepting Bribe in Land Allotment to Business House

A sessions court on Monday sentenced former IAS officer Pradeep Sharma to five years in prison and fined him Rs 75,000 in connection with a corruption case dating back to 2004, during his tenure as collector of Gujarat’s Kutch district.
The court of Principal District and Sessions Judge KM Sojitra convicted Sharma in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) over the alleged irregular allotment of land to the Welspun Group. The land was reportedly sold at 25% of the prevailing market rate, causing a loss of Rs 1.2 crore to the government exchequer.
Registrations Open for FutureCrime Summit 2025: India’s Largest Conference on Technology-Driven Crime
Sharma was found guilty under Section 13(2) (criminal misconduct by a public servant) and Section 11 (undue advantage obtained by a public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was sentenced to five years in jail and fined Rs 50,000 under Section 13(2). Additionally, he received a three-year sentence and a Rs 25,000 fine under Section 11. Both sentences will run concurrently, according to public prosecutor Kalpesh Goswami.
The ACB alleged that Sharma facilitated the undervalued land allotment in return for personal benefits. Welspun Group reportedly made Sharma’s wife a 30% partner in one of its subsidiaries, Value Packaging, granting her a benefit of Rs 29.5 lakh. Sharma was arrested by the ACB in 2014 for allegedly accepting a Rs 29 lakh bribe during his tenure as Kutch collector.
Sharma, who is currently incarcerated in Bhuj in connection with another corruption case, faced a joint trial for three cases related to land allotments to Welspun Group. The conviction is the latest development in a series of legal battles faced by Sharma, who has been under scrutiny for his alleged misuse of power for personal gain during his tenure as a senior bureaucrat.