Supreme Court rejects ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's plea for bail, suspension of sentence

Former Gujarat IPS office Sanjiv Bhatt. (File photo: PTI)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea by former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, seeking bail and suspension of his sentence. Bhatt is currently undergoing life imprisonment in connection with a case of custodial death in 1990.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, while denying relief to Bhatt, also directed that the hearing of his appeal to be expedited.

“We are not inclined to enlarge the appellant Sanjiv Kumar Bhatt on bail. However, we make it clear that the observations made herein above are restricted to the prayer for bail only and will have no bearing on the appeals of the appellant and the co-accused. The prayers sought by the appellant, Sanjiv Kumar Bhatt, for the grant of bail are dismissed. Hearing of the appeal is directed to be expedited,” Justice Mehta observed.

What is the case against Sanjiv Bhatt?

The case dates back to 1990 when Bhatt, as the Additional Superintendent of Police in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, detained around 133 people under the stringent Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) Act during a communal riot in Jamjodhpur town.

On November 18, 1990, one of those detained, Prabhudas Vaishnani, died in a hospital after he was released, allegedly due to torture while he was in custody. A complaint of custodial death was registered against seven policemen, including Bhatt, by Amrutlal Vaishnani, the brother of the deceased, following which the investigation was transferred to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) branch in Gandhinagar.

In 1995, the CID IO sought prosecution sanction from the government against Bhatt which was turned down. The CID then filed a closure report in the court which was . However, the court rejected this report in December 1995 and instead took cognisance of offences alleged against Bhatt and six others.

An A-summary report was filed in this case in 1995 after the Gujarat Government refused to grant sanction for prosecuting Bhatt. However, after Bhatt’s deposition in relation to the 2002 communal riots before the Nanavati and the Mehta commissions between May and July 2011, the state government withdrew protection granted to him, and the Jamnagar court began framing charges soon after.

In June 2019, Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court in Jamnagar. The sentence was subsequently upheld by a division bench of the Gujarat High Court.