Gauhati HC sets aside discharge of Lt. Col. Amit Kumar Sharma in CBI bribery case

The Gauhati High Court's Kohima bench on 5 November 2026 set aside the discharge of Lt. Col. Amit Kumar Sharma, then commanding officer of 50 Coy ASC (Supply) Type C, Dimapur, an Army Service Corps unit, in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) corruption case. It also set aside the discharge of Kapil Kumar Sharma, a private individual and co-accused, and sent the case back to the special CBI court at Dimapur to decide afresh within two months.

What Happened

According to the CBI's chargesheet, the officer, in a criminal conspiracy with the co-accused and a sub-contractor who is the third accused, obtained illegal gratification of Rs 10 lakh from that sub-contractor. The case was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Indian Penal Code, and concerns the supply of rations to an Army Service Corps unit in Nagaland. These are allegations, not findings of guilt; the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, and due process continues.

On 18 November 2024, the special CBI judge at Dimapur discharged the officer and the co-accused, finding no sufficient material to proceed. The judge had accepted the possibility that the Rs 10 lakh transfer was a friendly loan. The CBI challenged that order in revision petitions.

The High Court held that the special judge had looked at only one question, whether the Rs 10 lakh was a loan or a bribe, and did not examine the ingredients of each offence in the chargesheet, including conspiracy, cheating, abetment and criminal misconduct. A court cannot pass a blanket discharge from the entire case without doing so, it said, and quashed the discharge order.

What It Means

The court made no finding on whether the accused are guilty. The case now returns to the special CBI court, which must consider afresh whether there is enough material to frame charges, and the High Court said it expects that exercise to be finished within two months of receiving the order. The court noted that the chargesheet was filed in December 2020 and the discharge application in November 2022.

Anyone asked for a bribe by an official can report it; Oquilia's guide lists every state's anti-corruption helpline at https://www.oquilia.com/report-a-bribe.

Source: High Court judgment