Sanjiv Bhatt has been framed, fight for justice will continue, says wife

A day after former IPS officer and vocal critic of Narendra Modi Sanjiv Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Jamnagar Sessions Court in a 29-year-old custodial death case, his wife Shweta Bhatt said he has been framed in the case.

In an interview with Onmanorama, Shweta Bhatt also presented medical examination documents of deceased Prabhudad Madhavji Vaishnani, 40, prepared by Dr M Narayana Reddy, former HOD of Forensic medicine and toxicology at Osmania Medical College and general hospital, Hyderabad. She claims these documents show that Vaishnani's death was not due to any injury.

Bhatt, who has always been at loggerheads with the BJP government in Gujarat, had deposed before various inquiry commissions after the post-Godhra riots of 2002 against then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. However, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had given a clean chit to Modi.

The controversial officer was suspended in 2011 for absence from duty without proper permission and subsequently sacked in 2015.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation had demolished a portion of his house declaring it illegal.

His wife Shweta Bhatt had contested the 2012 Assembly election against Modi from Maninagar constituency in Ahmedabad and lost.

Excerpts from a telephonic interview with Shweta Bhatt.

'Clear case of vindictiveness'

There cannot be a better example for vindictiveness. Recalling the days when Sanjiv Bhatt was on duty at Jamjodhpur , Shweta said her husband took charge as the additional superintendent of police at Jamnagar district on October 24, 1990. Communal riots had broken out then after BJP leader LK Advani's rath yathra was stopped in Bihar.

"He had a tight schedule that day. He had additional charge of two other divisions as the officials concerned were on leave. By October 30, the government issued a curfew and communally sensitive areas of the state were kept under observation of the police. As a part of it, around 133 people were kept in detention by local police. Sanjiv was not in charge of it. Deceased Prabhudad Vaishnani was among those who were detained," Shweta explained.

According to Shweta, Vaishnani was arrested and kept under detention by a team of local police officials including civil police inspectors K N Patel, Bhanvad, police sub inspectors Thakur and Mahashankar Joshi. Apart from Vaishnani, his brother was also among those arrested. Shweta said that the complainant Amrutlal Vaishnani, son of the deceased, is an active member of Viswa Hindu Parishad.

Prabhudad Vaishnani was first taken to Jamnagar General Hospital and then to Rajkot General Hospital after he complained of uneasiness.

After he died, the hospital authorities didn't even record any indication of custodial death, Shweta said.

"Sanjiv reached that city just a couple of weeks ahead of Vaishnani's death. He didn't have a grudge on anybody. Sanjiv is not a person easily moved by personal feelings," Shweta said.

Only 32 of the 130 prime witnesses were cross-examined during the Sanjiv Bhatt's trial, she said.

'Unimaginable disaster'

Did Sanjiv Bhatt and his family anticipate such a huge set-back?

"How can someone expect such an unimaginable disaster? Sanjiv has always been a believer of Indian constitution. He had stuck to the constitutional values all through his fight for justice and free speech. We had long been facing set-backs for his courageous stance on public issues but a life sentence is heavier than we could take. We are all distressed and grief-stricken," Shweta said.

Bhatt's plea

Sanjiv Bhatt had said in his plea that the prosecution had intentionally suppressed vital documents and witnesses at the court.

"My superiors in the police department as well as home department were fully aware that I was being falsely victimized for having performed my duty with utmost sincerity and diligence. None of the 133 people in detention were interrogated by me or my staff. I am illegally and wrongly implicated in this false case," Sanjiv Bhatt had stated in his plea.

It was in 2011, that Bhatt was asked to present himself at the court as a witness by Justice Nanavati and Justice Mehta commission, which probed the 2002 communal riots. Bhatt had accused the then Gujrat chief minister Narendra Modi of being responsible for the 2002 riots.

"Narendra Modi was unhappy with my deposition. Soon orders were given to prosecute me in the custodial death case," he says.

Legal fight to continue

Shweta said Sanjiv has asked her to keep the fight for justice alive even if he is behind the bars. "We are all set to fight this out legally. It is a huge process. We have no other way than pursuing it. Sanjiv is innocent and he shall be acquitted from this case," Shweta said.

Shweta and Sanjiv Bhatt has two children: Akashi Bhatt, who is a doctor and Shantanu Bhatt, an architect.

Shantanu Bhatt told Onmanorama that voices of dissent were being suppressed and eliminated in the country. "This is a classic case of vindictiveness," he said.