Gujarat HC junks plea of ex-IPS Sanjiv Bhatt challenging conviction in custodial death case

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court Tuesday dismissed the appeal petition of jailed ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, challenging the life imprisonment awarded to him in the Jamnagar custodial death case.

A division bench of justices Ashutosh Shastri and Sandeep Bhatt pronounced the judgment giving no relief to Bhatt and another policeman Pravinsinh Jhala. While upholding the lower court's order, the bench held that after going through the evidence placed on record, the trial court rightly convicted Bhatt and Jhala. A detail order of the verdict is awaited.

In 2019, a Jamanagar sessions court found Bhatt and then police constable Pravinsinh Jhala guilty of the custodial death of Prabhudas Vaishnani in 1990. The accused policemen, including Dipak Shah, Shailesh Pandya, Pravin Jadeja, Anupsinh Jethva and Kesubhai Jadeja, were sentenced to two years for custodial torture and criminal intimidation.

Bhatt was found guilty in the custodial death case which was lodged in Jamnagar district in October 1990. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1988.

Back then, he was posted as Additional Superintendent of Police and was leading the team to control the mob following a communal riot in Jamjodhpur in Jamnagar due to the arrest of BJP leader L K Advani during his Rath Yatra.

The police team led by Bhatt had arrested one Prabhudas Vaishnani along with 133 others for rioting and other offences. Records stated that Vaishnani was brutally beaten up during the custody who, later, succumbed to injuries. Vaishnani's brother Amrit had lodged a complaint against Bhatt and five other policemen. The trial started in 2016.

The controversial ex-IPS officer Bhatt, who was sacked on various grounds, is known for testifying against the then-CM Narendra Modi for the 2002 riots and had claimed that he was part of the meeting on February 27, 2002 when Modi had allegedly said to “let Hindus vent their anger” after the Godhra train burning case.

However, the probe agencies discarded Bhatt’s testimony as "unbelievable" on the ground that he was not present in the meeting.

Bhatt is facing several criminal cases including a criminal conspiracy of allegedly fabricating evidence and tutoring witnesses in 2002 communal riot cases to seek conviction.

Activist Teesta Setalvad and ex-Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar are co accused in the case.