SC rejects Sanjiv Bhatt's plea in custodial death case

The Supreme Court dismissed a plea made by sacked Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeking to examine 11 additional witnesses in a 30-year-old custodial death case.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeking to examine more witnesses in his custodial torture case of 1990. The bench comprising Justices Indira Bannerjee and Ajay Rastogi observed that a similar petition was dismissed by a 3 judge bench and they cannot interfere in it.

On May 24, a bench comprising Justices Arun Misra, BR Gavai and Surya Kant had dismissed a petition filed by another accused in the case.

The bench also said that it was a tactic to delay the case and the trial should be completed by June 20.

In 1990, when Bhatt was Assistant Superintendent of Police, Jamnagar, took custody of about 133 people for rioting during Bharat Bandh.

One of them Prabhudas Madhavij Vaishnani had died due to custodial torture after 10 days of his release on bail. He was kept in custody for 9 days. The medical records said that he died due to renal failure.

Following his death, an FIR was registered in against him along with other officers and it was taken by the magistrate in 1995. The trail stayed till 2011 as Gujrat HC had stayed it. Thereafter trial commenced.

Sanjiv Bhatt alleged that 300 witnesses were listed but only 32 were actually examined and crucial witnesses who denied any incident of violence were not examined.

Three policemen who were a part of the team and denied violence have also been not examined. An application under section 311 CrPC was filed for examining additional witnesses but the Magistrate dismissed it.

Presently he is in custody for a drug planting case in 1996. Last month his plea regarding this case was also dismissed by the SC.