Supreme Court notice to Gujarat govt on Sanjiv Bhatt's plea against conviction in custodial death case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Gujarat government on a plea by sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt challenging the High Court's order upholding his conviction and life term in a 1990 custodial death case.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale sought a response from the state government within four weeks. The court also tagged Bhatt's plea with other petitions.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Devadatt Kamat, who appeared for Bhatt, contended that the matter needs to be examined by the court.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh represented the state government.

The Gujarat High Court had earlier this year upheld the Jamnagar Court's decision, finding no grounds for interference in the conviction.

In June 2019, a Sessions Court in Jamnagar 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 related to custodial death of Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani, who was allegedly tortured while in police custody during his tenure as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Jamnagar.

Vaishnani was among 133 individuals detained during a Bharat Bandh in November 1990 called due to arrest of senior BJP leader L K Advani in Bihar during his 'Rath Yatra'. He died days after being released on bail, with renal failure cited as the cause of death.

Bhatt, who was given charge of Additional SP, Jamnagar, claimed the present incident related to death of Prabhudas Vaishnani happened 18 days after his release from police custody on November 18, 1990.

The officer had earlier filed an affidavit against Narendra Modi concerning his role in 2002 Gujarat riots. His wife Shweta had in 2012 contested Gujarat sssembly polls in Maninagar seat against Modi on a Congress ticket.