The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Gujarat government in response to former police officer Sanjiv Bhatt’s appeal against his conviction and life sentence in a 1990 custodial death case.
The case, titled ‘Sanjiv Kumar Rajendrabhai Bhatt vs State of Gujarat’, involves Bhatt’s role in an incident that occurred while he was serving as an additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar.
The appeal, which will be heard alongside related cases, was acknowledged by a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale. The Court stated, “Issue notice returnable in four weeks.”
Bhatt is represented by Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Devadatt Kamat, while Senior Advocate Maninder Singh represents the State of Gujarat. Earlier this year, the Gujarat High Court dismissed Bhatt’s appeal against a Jamnagar sessions court verdict that convicted him in the custodial death case. Following that decision, Bhatt filed the current appeal through advocate Rajesh Gulab Inamdar.
The incident in question dates back to 1990, during Bhatt’s tenure in Jamnagar. After communal riots erupted, Bhatt detained 133 individuals under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). The riots were triggered by a Bharat Bandh called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to protest the arrest of then-BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani during his Rath Yatra to Ayodhya.
One of the detainees, Prabhudas Vaishnani, died after being released from custody. His family alleged that Vaishnani was tortured by Bhatt and other officers, claiming that the detainees were beaten with sticks, forced to crawl on their elbows, and deprived of water, which led to Vaishnani’s kidney failure. Although Vaishnani was released on bail after nine days in custody, he later died of renal failure.
An FIR was filed against Bhatt and other officers for custodial death, with a Magistrate taking cognizance of the case in 1995. The case implicates a total of seven police officers, including two sub-inspectors and three constables.
