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Synopsis

Disgraced IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Wednesday withdrew 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, informed a bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna that the Gujarat High Court is hearing his appeal against the conviction on a regular basis and he wishes to pursue his remedies there and withdraw the plea here. The court, on hearing his submissions, dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

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.

According to the India Express, the High Court refused to suspend Bhatt’s sentence and observed that he had scant respect for courts and had deliberately tried to misuse the process of law and was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2019 in the case.

The Supreme Court, in its order, has said that Bhatt’s appeal in the high court shall be decided in accordance with the law and on the merits of the matter.

Case title: Sanjiv Bhatt Vs State of Gujarat