A special court has sentenced retired IAS officer Pradeep Sharma to five years in prison in a major money laundering case linked to the illegal allotment of government land in Gujarat. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000. The case relates to land allotments made at very low prices between 2003 and 2006, when Sharma was the Kutch district collector.
Special PMLA Judge KM Sojitra found Sharma guilty under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court also ordered that all properties seized by the Enforcement Directorate will remain confiscated by the Central government.
How the Case Started
The Ahmedabad office of the ED had registered a criminal case against Sharma in March 2012. He was later arrested in July 2016 and got bail in March 2018.
Investigations revealed that Sharma, as chairman of the district land pricing committee, allegedly allotted a large piece of government land to Welspun India Limited at concessional rates by violating rules.
Money Routed Through Wife’s Account
The ED said Sharma used his wife’s bank account to launder illegal money received from the company and its group firms. The money was allegedly used to repay a housing loan and buy agricultural land.
According to the prosecution, ₹29.5 lakh was credited to his wife’s account as illegal gratification. His wife is a US resident.
Sharma was also accused of receiving a mobile SIM card from the company, which paid ₹2.24 lakh between 2004 and 2009 as part of the illegal benefit.
Fake Partnership Used to Route Bribe
The ED further alleged that Sharma’s wife was made a 30% partner in Value Packaging Pvt Ltd between 2004 and 2007 only to route bribe money legally. The agency said this company acted as a special channel to send money to her NRO account.
Earlier Corruption Cases
Before this money laundering case, the CID (Crime), Rajkot, had already filed:
- An FIR in March 2010 under the Prevention of Corruption Act
- Another case in September 2010 under the IPC
The CID accused Sharma of causing a ₹1.20 crore loss to the government. Later, in September 2014, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) also registered a case, saying Sharma cleared land for non-agricultural use for Welspun within just 40 days, even though his wife was financially linked to the company.
Properties Attached, Another Conviction in 2025
During the probe, the ED attached Sharma’s land in Gandhinagar district and his house.
In a separate case, a Bhuj court in April 2025 sentenced Sharma to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined him ₹10,000 for illegal land allotment to Saw Pipes Pvt Ltd in 2004. That case also involved heavy losses to the public money. Sharma and three others were convicted in that case.
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