Suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma on Monday withdrew his application from Gujarat High Court seeking bail in the alleged graft case lodged by Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau. Sharma is lodged in Bhuj jail for the past two months in the case in which he allegedly misused his official position to gain personal benefits during his tenure as district collector between 2003 and 2006 in Kutch. The ACB officials arrested Sharma on September 30 following an FIR alleging that the suspended IAS officer allocated land to Welspun Group for establishing units in Anjar taluka of Kutch district in 2004 at rates lower than determined by the district land valuation committee that caused a loss of Rs 1.2 crore to state exchequer. Sharma has been booked under sections of 11, 13 (1) (D) and 13 (2) Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 among other charges. These sections deal with a public servant abusing his position for pecuniary advantage and a public servant who commits misconduct should be punished with imprisonment for not less than a year up to seven years. The IAS officer, under suspension for several years, withdrew his application after the prosecution claimed that the investigation is still not completed and releasing him on bail might hamper the case's progress. After completion of arguments Sharma's lawyer withdrew the petition. In the FIR the investigating officer DS Vyas has stated that the action against Sharma was first initiated following a complaint lodged by Henry James Chacko, principal secretary of All India Corruption and Crime Preventive Council in 2010. Sharma had hit headlines after his name figured in the alleged 'snooping on a woman architect' controversy broke out last year by two Delhi-based news portals. Apart from this case he is facing five other corruption cases filed by the CID (crime).
