IAS officer Pradeep Sharma seeks pre-arrest bail in DA case

Suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma on Thursday filed a pre-arrest bail plea in Ahmedabad sessions court, apprehending arrest by Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau in a disproportionate assets case. Additional Sessions Judge H J Joshi is likely to hear the application on Friday.

Sharma, who had been arrested by ACB in two cases in the past, says in the application that ACB had initiated a fresh `open inquiry' against him regarding his assets and called him twice for questioning recently.

"Since the petitioner has animosity with...political leaders, therefore, the petitioner will be arrested in connection with the present open inquiry," the plea says.

But it does not name any political leader. Sharma's lawyer R J Goswami said ACB had not made anything clear about the case but it was likely to arrest Sharma.

The IAS officer was called by ACB twice last week and therefore he feared that a fresh FIR will be filed against him in the assets case, Goswami said. Sharma had been arrested in 2010 in a scam related to land allotment for rehabilitation of earthquake-affected people in Bhuj where he was posted as Collector in 2001.

It was alleged that some 400 persons who were given land were not eligible for help.

Last year, Sharma was again arrested by ACB for allegedly accepting bribe/undue benefit of Rs 29 lakh from private firm Welspun.