SC rejects Sanjiv Bhatt's bail plea in 1990 custodial death case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had been convicted in a 1990 custodial death case and sentenced to life imprisonment.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta found no merit in Bhatt's request for bail or suspension of his sentence.

"We are not inclined to grant Sanjiv Bhatt bail. The prayer for bail is dismissed. The hearing of the appeal will not be affected, and the hearing is expedited," Justice Nath stated while delivering the verdict.

The bench clarified that the refusal to grant bail would not impact the merit of the appeal, which is still pending before the top court. A detailed judgment is awaited.

Bhatt's appeal against both his conviction and life sentence is currently before the Supreme Court. In 2024, Bhatt challenged the Gujarat High Court’s decision of January 9, which had dismissed his appeal and upheld his conviction.

The High Court had also upheld the conviction of Bhatt and co-accused Pravinsinh Zala under Sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. Additionally, the High Court dismissed the state government's appeal to enhance the sentences of five other accused, who were acquitted of murder charges but convicted under Sections 323 and 506.

The case stems from the death of Prabhudas Vaishnani, who was detained by Bhatt and other officers in Jamjodhpur on October 30, 1990, following a communal riot. Vaishnani died after his release from detention, and his brother accused Bhatt and six other police officers of torturing Vaishnani during custody, leading to his death.

Bhatt was arrested on September 5, 2018, in connection with a separate case, where he is accused of falsely implicating a man in a drug possession case. The trial for this case is ongoing. Bhatt is also facing charges related to the alleged fabrication of evidence in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots, alongside activist Teesta Setalvad and former Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar.

Bhatt had previously made headlines when he filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, alleging the involvement of then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots. However, these allegations were debunked by a special investigation team. Bhatt was suspended from service in 2011 and dismissed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in August 2015 for "unauthorised absence."

In the custodial death case, five other policemen—sub-inspectors Dipak Shah and Sailesh Pandya, and constables Pravinsih Jadeja, Anopsinh Jethva, and Keshubha Jadeja—were sentenced to two years in prison.