Ex-IAS officer Pradeep Sharma sentenced to five years jail for money laundering

AHmedabad: A special bar of Money Laundering move (PMLA) margaret court in Ahmedabad on sat convicted former IAS ship's officer Pradeep Sharma for money laundering and sentenced him to five years’ rigorous imprisonment.The court held that Sharma had abused his position to allot government land in Bhuj to Welspun India Ltd. And its group companies at rates far below those fixed by the State, generating proceeds of crime that were later projected as lawful.The 195-page judgment was delivered by Principal District and Sessions Judge and Designated Special Judge (PMLA) Kamal Sojitra.Sharma, 71, was taken into custody after the order. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000, with a default sentence of three months’ simple imprisonment.It directed confiscation to the Union government of all properties earlier attached by the Enforcement Directorate, including his Gandhinagar house and agricultural land in Dehgam.The order recorded that Sharma is already serving a sentence awarded on January 20, 2025, in a sessions court under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment in that case.Sharma’s lawyer RJ Goswamy sought a concurrent sentence, citing his age, in custody since 2016 and the link between the corruption and PMLA cases. He asked the court to apply Section 427 of the CrPC, which provides that a new sentence begins only after the earlier one unless the court, for valid reasons, orders concurrency, and asked for the minimum three-year term.Special Public Prosecutor SK Gupta opposed the plea, arguing that the two offences arise under different laws, that Section 427 requires consecutive sentences, and that money laundering “is an offence against the nation” warranting no leniency.The court held that Sharma, as district collector of Bhuj from 2003 to 2006, misused his office by allotting land to Welspun India Ltd. At rates far below the government rate, generating about ₹1.20 crore in proceeds later projected as untainted through his wife’s accounts. It ruled that such conduct “disentitles him” from concurrency and that neither age nor antecedents justified any discretion.The court held that Sharma allotted land in Anjar taluka to Welspun group companies at “rates ranging from ₹15 to ₹18 per square metre, instead of the fixed government rate of ₹78 per square metre”, causing a loss of ₹1.20 crore to the State. This finding corresponds with the charges framed earlier in the case.According to the judgment, the benefit arising from these allotments was returned through payments routed into the accounts of Sharma’s wife, Shyamal P Sharma. The order records that “Smt. Shyamal P Sharma was made a 30% partner in M/s. Value Packaging Private Limited… without any initial capital investment”, and that amounts of ₹22 lakh and ₹7.5 lakh were received as profit share and goodwill.The prosecution showed that ₹2,817,407 received in the name of his wife and was later transferred into Sharma’s accounts. The court held that these proceeds were “utilised to repay a housing loan for his Gandhinagar house and to purchase agricultural land in Dehgam, Gandhinagar”, both of which were attached and later confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority.The court accepted the prosecution’s case on layering of funds. The judgment states that Sharma “sent around ₹1 crore of proceeds of crime by way of Hawala transaction from India to the US and around $35,950 through one Ravin Jhunjhunwala”.Deposits were made into his wife’s bank account in the US from persons including Gurnam Singh Juneja.During trial, the Special Court examined 28 prosecution witnesses. The judgment summarised their testimony, including evidence from a director of Welspun who stated that Sharma used a SIM card provided by the company, with the bills paid by it.The judge wrote that money laundering “poses a serious threat to the financial systems of the country” and must be dealt with firmly to protect public confidence. The court concluded that a five-year sentence would “meet the ends of justice,” rejecting the defence suggestion of a minimum punishment.Sharma faces nearly a dozen corruption-related FIRs. In 2023, he received a one-month sentence for keeping a mobile phone inside Bhuj prison.