Graft case: Court rejects discharge plea of HP industry dept joint secy

CHANDIGARH: A special court on Monday dismissed the discharge application of Himachal Pradesh industries department joint secretary Tilak Raj Sharma.

The Himachal government had denied the permission to try Sharma for receiving bribe of ₹5 lakh, following which he filed the discharge application. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for May 1.

However, the CBI’s application for further investigation in the case was allowed by the special court. “We will further probe the case to try and bring more facts to the fore,” CBI pleaded. The investigation bureau also said “in case any officer was suspended, transferred or terminated, then no prosecution sanction was required to prosecute him/her”.

In his discharge application, Sharma had said neither did he have the power to allow any subsidy nor was he a member of any such committee, as accused. “Also, the bribe amount was not recovered from me, but the other accused,” he had added.

Sharma and his accomplice Ashok Rana were arrested by CBI on the complaint of Panchkula resident Chandrashekhar in May last year. He had told the CBI that he was a consultant with Medicaf Pharma company and his clients had filed for a ₹50-lakh subsidy in the industries department office at HP’s Baddi. The accused had allegedly demanded a bribe of ₹10 lakh and the first instalment of ₹5 lakh was to be given at a hair salon in Chandigarh’s Sector 8.

The CBI had then laid a trap and arrested the accused in May 2017.

THE HP GOVERNMENT HAD DENIED THE PERMISSION TO TRY SHARMA FOR RECEIVING BRIBE OF ₹5 LAKH, FOLLOWING WHICH HE FILED THE DISCHARGE APPLICATION