Pradeep Sharma gets bail in bribery case

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday accede to request for bail by former IAS officer Pradeep Sharma in a 2008 case.

In the case, Sharma was stated to have taken Rs 25 lakh as bribe during his stint as the managing director of Gujarat government owned firm Alcock Ashdown (Gujarat) Ltd.

Sharma was re-arrested on March 9, 2018, by Gujarat Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), hours after he stepped out of the Sabarmati Central Jail, in Ahmedabad, after receiving bail in a separate case of reported money laundering that was investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

He has been lodged in the jail for almost 20 months now.

On Tuesday, Sharma got relief from the court of Justice A J Desai. As per the details of the case, Managing Director of a private shipping firm-Shoft Shipyard, Sahay Raja, claimed that he had paid Rs 25 lakh in bribe to Sharma for releasing funds way back in 2009.

This statement was recorded by the ED while probing a money laundering case against Sharma.

The ACB on its part 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 his phone being tapped.

Sharma, who has a total of 10 cases against him, is likely to walk out of Sabarmati jail on Wednesday.