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Synopsis

The Supreme Court today has issued notice in ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's petition against his conviction and life sentence in a 1990 custodial death case.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale has also sought the Gujarat government's response.

Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Devadatt Kamat appeared for Bhatt

The case pertains to the custodial death of a person named Prabhudas Vaishnani, who was one of the persons detained by Jamnagar police after a communal riot broke out following a bandh call in view of BJP leader L K Advani’s Rath Yatra.

Vashnani’s brother filed an FIR accusing Bhatt and six other policemen of killing his brother by torturing him while he was in police detention.

Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Sessions Court in June 2019 in the case.

Later, his conviction was upheld by the Gujarat High Court in January this year.

In 2022, Bhatt had withdrawn his petition before the Supreme Court for suspension of his life sentence in a 1990 custodial death case.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Bhatt, had informed a bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna that the Gujarat High Court was hearing his appeal against the conviction on a regular basis and he wishes to pursue his remedies there and withdraw the plea here.

Last year, court had also rebuked the Gujarat's sacked IPS officer while rejecting his plea for recusal of a judge from hearing a matter concerning his conviction and sentence of life term in custodial death case, after finding that it was an attempt made with "mala fide" intention to indulge in "forum shopping" and "bench hunting".

Case Title: Sanjiv Bhatt vs. State of Gujarat