New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Gujarat government on a petition filed by sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt against the order passed by the High Court upholding his conviction and life term in a 1990 custodial death case.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Devadatt Kamat appeared for Bhatt before a bench comprising justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale. The counsel argued that the matter needs to be examined by the court. Senior advocate Maninder Singh represented the Gujarat government.
“Issue notice returnable in four weeks,” said the bench. Bhatt moved the top court challenging the Gujarat High Court’s January 9, 2024, order dismissing his appeal. The apex court also tagged his plea with other petitions related to the case.
The Gujarat High Court had upheld the trial court’s decision. The High Court had said that it could not find any ground to interfere with the conviction. A sessions court in Jamnagar in June 2019 sentenced Bhatt and police constable Pravinsinh Zala to life imprisonment, finding them guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Other officers involved received convictions under lesser charges.
The matter is regarding the custodial death of Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani, who was allegedly tortured while in police custody during Bhatt’s tenure as the assistant superintendent of police in Jamnagar. Vaishnani, was among 133 individuals detained during Bharat Bandh in November 1990 called due to the arrest of senior BJP leader LK Advani in Bihar during his 'Rath Yatra', and died in hospital after his release. Bhatt claimed the present incident related to Vaishnani’s death happened 18 days after his release from police custody.
The officer had earlier filed an affidavit against Narendra Modi concerning his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. His wife Shweta had in 2012 contested Gujarat Assembly polls in Maninagar seat against Modi on a Congress ticket.
Read more: Gujarat court convicts former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in 1996 drug seizure case
