After Centre’s nod, state govt chargesheets former DGP who took on Modi

The case concerns Sharma’s stint as Managing Director (MD) of the Gujarat Sheep and Wool Development Corporation. Sources said the chargesheet accuses Sharma of not surrendering a certain unused amount pending with the corporation to the government as per the norm. The amount was finally surrendered back to the government by Sharma’s successor.

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“The government had granted an amount to the corporation for some work on March 31, 2011. The amount was not used and the time lapsed. As per procedure, the amount was to be returned to the government. But there is some liberty available to the management that it can intimate the government that the unused money should be with the corporation. Sharma wrote to the government seeking the same, but the government wrote back, asking to surrender the amount,” sources said.

Nineteen days after the government asked the corporation to return the money, Sharma was transferred to Delhi on a deputation and he could not process the surrender, said sources close to him. Sources said that Sharma’s successor sent the money back to the government. However, sources said that the Gujarat government found Sharma’s negligence by not sending the money on time and therefore the chargesheet.

The 1976-batch IPS Sharma had several run-ins with the previous Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government. Sharma, in various court cases, directly named Modi and then junior home minister Amit Shah (now BJP national president), alleging them of having mala fide intention in downgrading his Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) and not promoting him. Sharma filed a number of court cases, including challenging his transfer to the corporation as MD by “taking him from the mainstream and posting him out of his cadre” as well as downgrading his ACRs. Sharma openly blamed Modi, who as a chief minister was the accepting authority for the upgradation of ACRs.

Sharma was denied promotion by the state government and it was only after Delhi High Court’s intervention that he was finally promoted as Director General of Police (DGP) by the order of the Central government. He was posted to Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) from where he retired in December 2012. Post- retirement, he was appointed adviser in the ministry of home affairs, New Delhi. In February 2014, Sharma resigned from the post.