The Gujarat High Court dismissed a petition filed by former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt’s wife Shweta Bhatt seeking the reasons for the family’s police protection being withdrawn.
Rejecting her request in the “greater public interest,” Single-judge Justice Nirzar Desai stated that requiring the government to produce such documents would jeopardise the confidentiality of the methodology for providing and withdrawing police protection.
Bhatt and his family had previously been granted protection because he was a witness in a case involving the then- CM Narendra Modi, but “that does not stand now because you (Sanjiv Bhatt) are in jail,” the court stated.
Sanjiv Bhatt was discharged from his duty and has been imprisoned since his arrest in September 2018 in connection with the alleged planting of drugs to frame a man. He is currently serving a life sentence in a custodial death case from 1990.
His and his family’s security was withdrawn in July 2018 following a review of the threat perception by a committee chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary, Home. Shweta Bhatt approached the High Court in 2019 to reclaim the family’s security cover, citing incidents such as an accident involving her vehicle.
Senior Advocate Anand Yagnik, appearing for Bhatt, stated that the petition was limited to obtaining the communication containing the reasons why the committee recommended withdrawal.
“It is the right of the petitioner to know the grounds and reasons for which the police protection was withdrawn. “There has to be a reason,” Yagnik contended.
Mitesh Amin, the public prosecutor, opposed the demand, claiming that the police protection of more than 60 people, including judges, had been withdrawn following the same review, and that Bhatt had not been singled out.
“This report carrying reasons is confidential,” he stated. The Court dismissed the plea based on the basis of these observations.
