HC bails out Gujarat ex-IAS officer in corruption case

Ahmedabad : The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday allowed bail to former IAS officer Pradeep Sharma in a 2008 bribery case when he was Managing Director of state-run firm Alcock Ashdown (Gujarat) Ltd.

Sharma was re-arrested on March 9 by Gujarat's Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) hours after he stepped out of the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad after getting bail in a money laundering case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate.

He has been lodged in jail for almost 20 months.

On Tuesday, Sharma got relief from Justice A.J. Desai. Sharma, who has 10 cases registered against him, is likely to walk out of the Sabarmati jail on Wednesday.

Private shipping firm Shoft Shipyard MD Sahay Raj had claimed that he had paid Rs 25 lakh to Sharma for releasing funds way back in 2009. The ED had recorded his statement while probing the money laundering case against Sharma.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau had produced transcripts of telephonic conversations said to have taken place between Sharma and Sahay Raj, to strengthen their case. Sharma had challenged the legality of phone-tapping.