India, Feb. 28 -- The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the continuation of criminal proceedings against former Indian administrative service (IAS) officer Pradip N Sharma in a land allotment case from his tenure as district collector of Bhuj in 2006. However, the Court provided him with protection from arrest, citing the six-year delay in registering the case, which occurred in 2012.

A bench headed by justice Vikram Nath said, "We have dismissed the petition seeking quashing of the criminal case but have granted anticipatory bail."

The top court's decision came in response to an appeal against the Gujarat High Court's March 1, 2019 order, which had refused to quash the criminal case against Sharma. An FIR was filed with the criminal inve...