Pradeep Nirankarnath Sharma
Pradeep Nirankarnath Sharma | |
|---|---|
| Indian Administrative Service | |
| In office 1981 – 2009 (Suspended) | |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Multiple roles as Collector (DM) & Municipal Commissioner |
Pradeep Nirankarnath Sharma is a former IAS officer of Gujarat cadre facing multiple cases of corruption and two separate five years imprisonment for money laundering and irregularities in land allocation. In 2013, he filed a petition in supreme court alleging that Narendra Modi had spied on an architect using state machinery and had called for a CBI probe into it.[1]
He is facing at least five cases of corruption and is accused of illegal land allocation in Kutch and Bhuj.[2]
Family
[edit]He is brother of Kuldeep Sharma, a former IPS officer (ex-DIG, Gujarat) who had accused Amit Shah, then Home Minister of state of accepting a bribe of 2.5 crore to bail out a 1600 crore fraudster involving a bank of which Shah was the director.[3]
Career
[edit]Sharma held various administrative positions during his near thirty-year career including that of District magistrate, Bhuj, Kutch and Rajkot and as municipal commissioner of Jamnagar and Bhavnagar.[4] A 2011 article by BBC (‘Gujarat's astonishing rise from rubble of 2001 quake’) credits Sharma of being instrumental in redeveloping the Bhuj region after the devastating 2001 earthquake.[5] He was instrumental in faster rebuilding of streets and several public gardens.[6]
Stalk-gate/Snoopgate
[edit]In 2013, Sharma had alleged that Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India tailed and snooped upon an architect using state machinery in 2009.[7] He supported his allegations with audio tapes leaked by Cobrapost and Gulail.com.[8] The tapes which are conversations between a police officer and Amit Shah, the present home minister and close aide of Modi show that every movement of the woman was tracked on the behest of some 'saheb' (master).[9][10] The allegations were refuted and instead Sharma was accused of having doubtful personality traits.[11]
In April 2013, suspended IPS officer G.L. Singhl told Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that he was directed multiple times by Amit Shah to tail Pradeep Sharma.[12] He provided 267 clips of such conversations. These show that over-reaching surveillance was kept by Amit Shah the then home minister of Gujarat on architect, her family and also Sharma.[13]
The accusations snowballed into a major controversy and embarrassment for the BJP, the current ruling party who had nominated Modi as prime ministerial candidate for 2014 Indian general elections.[14] The Gujarat State agencies submitted in court & the BJP leaders accepted in public that snooping did happen which they said was done on behest of girl's father and with her knowledge.[15] S.K. Saikia, the then police commissioner of Ahemdabad said in an interview that if such surveillance was legal, he should have had some paperwork for it.[16]
Arrests and charges
[edit]First arrest
[edit]Pradeep sharma was first arrested on corruption charges by Gujarat police when he was Municipal commissioner, Bhavnagar but he later got bail.[17] He was suspended in 2010 on corruption charges.
2014
[edit]In August 2014, he filed a petition in Supreme Court for a CBI probe into cases against him but his application was rejected. He has been since slapped with multiple cases of corruption which his family allege are because of his allegations.[18]
He was arrested in October 2014 in a graft case by Anti-Corruption Bureau.[19]
2016—2018
[edit]A case of money laundering was filed against him by Enforcement Directorate for and misusing his powers to allocate land to one M/S. Wellspun Company Ltd and to M/s Saw Pipes Ltd causing a loss of ₹1,20,30,824/- to the government. He was convicted of the crime on 08.01.2018 by an order passed by the Special Judge (PMLA), Ahmedabad, in PMLA Case No. 02 of 2016.[20]
2025
[edit]He was sentenced to two five-year imprisonments, one in January (by Ahemdabad sessions court) and other in April (by Bhuj district court).[21]
References
[edit]- ^ "Snoopgate: Delete allegations against Modi, says SC". The Hindu. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ "ED locks Rs 6 crore assets in probe".
- ^ "The accusations against the BJP's new president". caravanmagazine.in. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "IAS Story: पढ़ लिखकर बने डिप्टी कलेक्टर, प्रमोशन से हो गए आईएएस, अब हो गई जेल!". News18 हिंदी (in Hindi). 20 April 2025. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ "Gujarat's astonishing rise from rubble of 2001 quake". BBC News. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ Patel 2012, p. 200.
- ^ "Stalk-Gate: Woman's father wrote letter to save Narendra Modi, claims IAS officer". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "THE STALKERS: AMIT SHAH'S ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE EXPOSED". Cobrapost. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "For 'saheb',Modi's aide Amit Shah accused of using cops to snoop on woman". The Indian Express. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "India orders inquiry into Gujarat spying allegations". BBC News. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "Suspended bureaucrat Pradeep Sharma's antics forced snooping on woman in Gujarat".
- ^ Jaffrelot 2024, p. 130.
- ^ "No one's family". Outlook India.
- ^ Sardesai 2015, p. 193.
- ^ "Gujarat justifies 2009 snoopgate; opposes CBI probe". The Hindu. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "All you need to know about Snoopgate". Business Standard. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "ED arrests suspended officer". The Hindu. 2016.
- ^ "IAS Officer Being 'Taught a Lesson' for Taking on Modi, Says Family". The Wire.
- ^ "Suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma held in graft case".
- ^ "Pradeep Nirankarnath Sharma V. Directorate Of Enforcement And Anr". Vikram Nath. 2025.
- ^ "Gujarat court sentences ex-IAS officer, three others to 5-year jail terms in land allotment case". The Hindu. 19 April 2025.
Sources
[edit]- Christophe Jaffrelot (1 March 2024). Gujarat Under Modi: Laboratory of Today's India. Oxford University Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-19-779052-6.
- Patel, Shirish; Revi, Aromar (26 July 2012). Recovering from Earthquakes: Response, Reconstruction and Impact Mitigation in India. Routledge. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-136-51807-2.
- Sardesai, Rajdeep (2015). 2014: The Election That Changed India. Penguin UK. p. 193. ISBN 978-81-8475-010-2.