Gujarat HC upholds life sentence of ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in 1990 custodial death case

The Gujarat High Court, in a decision last week, upheld the murder conviction and life sentence of former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and police constable Pravinsinh Zala in a 1990 case of custodial torture and death.

Bhatt, who was removed from service in 2015, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Sessions Court of Jamnagar District in a custodial death case. A division Bench of the court was hearing the appeal by Bhatt and Zala against the Jamnagar sessions court’s verdict.

1990 case in Jamnagar

The case dates back to 1990 when Bhatt was posted as the additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar district in Gujarat. Bhatt was sent by then Superintendent of Police of Jamnagar TS Bisht to Jamjodhpur town of the district to control a communal riot that had broken out after a call for Bharat bandh by the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). They were protesting against the arrest of the then BJP national president LK Advani, who was leading the rath yatra from Somnath district for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

During that time, Bhatt had detained around 133 people under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) Act. Noticeably, on November 18, 1990, one of the persons detained by Bhatt - Prabhudas Vaishnani - died in hospital after he was released from custody, allegedly due to custodial torture.

Complaint of custodial death

Following the incident, a complaint of custodial death was registered against seven policemen, including Bhatt, by Amrutlal Vaishnani, the brother of the deceased, who claimed that the detainees were beaten with sticks and rifle butts, made to do sit-ups, crawl on elbows, and were not allowed to drink water for days.

In the course of the investigation over the years, the CID investigating officer requested sanction from the government in 1995 to prosecute Bhatt as he was the government officer on duty then. However, the sanction was not granted by the government. The CID then filed a closure summary report in the court.

However, the court rejected the closure report in December 1995 and took cognisance of offences alleged against Bhatt and six others and an A-summary report was filed in the case.

Case was in limbo till 2011

However, the case remained in limbo until July 2011 when the Jamnagar session court began framing charges after Bhatt’s deposition in the 2002 communal riots before the Nanavati and Mehta commissions between May and July 2011. It is during the same time that the state government withdrew the protection granted to Bhatt and his family.

“From blatant lies to targeted personal attacks, our family has seen it all. We have been fighting a lengthy legal battle to get justice for Sanjiv since his allegations about Modi’s complicity in the Gujarat riots became a trouble for the BJP. Even though his allegations were dismissed by the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court, we have been dealing with a slew of legal battles that followed,” says Shweta Bhatt, wife of Sanjiv Bhatt.

Vociferous against Modi regime

Bhatt, who became a social activist after he was sacked in 2015, has been vociferous against the Modi regime and subsequently faced various charges over the years. He has been in and out of custody for almost two decades now.

In April 2011, Bhatt filed a petition with depositions and affidavits before the National Commission for Minorities, the Nanavati Commission, and the Supreme Court alleging the state’s involvement and deliberate inaction during the 2002 violence. Bhatt mentioned six witnesses who could testify about his presence at the alleged meeting held at Modi’s residence, then CM of Gujarat.

One of the witnesses was Bhatt’s own driver Constable KD Panth.

Gujarat govt suspended Bhatt in Aug 2011

In May 2011, Bhatt was interrogated by the Justice Shah and Nanavati Commission. In June the same year, Panth filed an FIR against Bhatt, alleging that Bhatt had threatened him and forced him to sign a false affidavit while also claiming that Bhatt was on leave when the riots broke out in 2002.

Following Panth’s statement, the Gujarat government suspended Bhatt on August 8, 2011 accusing him of “unauthorised absence from duty”, not appearing before an inquiry committee, and using his official car while not on duty.

He was arrested in September 2011 and got bail seventeen days later.

Drug-planting case against Bhatt

Meanwhile, another case trial had begun against Bhatt. The Gujarat CID (crime) that had taken over an old matter of 1996 from Banaskantha police filed a chargesheet against Bhatt in the Palanpur court for framing a Rajasthan-based lawyer in a fake narcotics case back in 1996. The chargesheet named Bhatt and then police inspector IB Vyas and a constable Malabhai Desai, charging them for conspiracy and planting narcotics with the help of his then subordinates.

Convicted in custodial death case in 2012, sacked in 2015

Bhatt was then arrested by the Gujarat police in the case and later got bail. However, during the pendency of the drug-planting case trial, he was convicted in the custodial death case and arrested again in November, 2012, along with six others.

In 2015, his sacking orders were released while he was imprisoned in the same case. Soon after, in October 2015, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the criminal prosecution of Bhatt for allegedly forcing a junior police official to file a false affidavit in a Gujarat riots case and allegedly hacking the email account of the then additional advocate general of Gujarat, Tushar Mehta.

Bhatt’s house gets illegal-construction notice

Days after the move by the apex court, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) sent a notice to the Bhatt family residence claiming that a portion of the house was illegally constructed and would be razed. The notice also stated that the move had come after Bhatt’s neighbour had taken resort to the Gujarat High Court in 2012 against an allegedly illegal structure in the officer’s house and demanded that it be razed.

In July 2018, the Supreme Court rejected Bhatt’s plea against AMC’s order to demolish part of his house while also dismissing three of his petitions in the drug planting case. The Supreme Court also fined Bhatt ₹3 lakhs for repeatedly filing pleas in the decade-long case.

Part of Bhatt’s house demolished by AMC

The same month, the AMC’s demolition squad, under then Assistant Municipal Commissioner Vishal Khanama, pulled down 92 square metres of Bhatt’s residence in Sushil Nagar Society on the Drive-in Road area in Ahmedabad.

“I had given an undertaking that in 15 days, if the petition goes against me, I will myself alter or demolish the structure keeping its integrity in mind. This building has been in this state for the last 20 years as per AMC’s own records. They have been taxing me for 371.50 square metres on which the property stands,” Bhatt had made a statement after the demolition drive.

‘I question my misplaced belief in judiciary’: Shweta Bhatt

“In the last 5 years, I have been often asked if I still have any faith in the judiciary after every petition that we filed was dismissed without even being heard. But I have always said that I do hold on to a sliver of hope. But today I stand questioning my misplaced belief. We live in times where rapists, rioters, and lynchers are not only entertained, but they walk scot free and honest individuals languish in jail waiting for one fair day in court,” said Shweta Bhatt.

“Now our only hope is that we have honesty and truth by our side. So, despite being beaten, broken, and intimidated, we will keep fighting and remain unbowed in our pursuit of justice,” she added.