Overview

• The Bhuj district court sentenced former IAS officer Pradeep Sharma to five years of rigorous imprisonment for his role in a 2004 land allotment case.
• Three co-accused—urban planner Natubhai Desai, then mamlatdar Narendra Prajapati, and then deputy collector Ajitsinh Zala—received identical sentences and fines of ₹10,000 each.
• The case involved the illegal allotment of land to Saw Pipes Pvt Ltd, exceeding the 2-hectare limit set by a 2003 Gujarat government resolution.
• Sharma's sentence will commence after completing a separate five-year term handed down in January 2025 for another corruption case.
• The prosecution presented 52 documents and 18 witness testimonies to demonstrate that the accused acted beyond their authority, causing financial losses to the public exchequer.