The Supreme Court has rejected the plea of former Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to suspend his life sentence in a 1990 custodial death case. A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta refused to grant Bhatt bail but ordered that his criminal appeal be heard without delay.
"We are not inclined to enlarge the appellant on bail... The prayers sought by the Appellant are dismissed, however, the hearing of the appeal is directed to be expedited,"
– Justice Sandeep Mehta
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The bench clarified that their observations were limited to the bail application and would not affect the merits of the pending appeals. The order came after the bench reserved judgment on February 28 in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the Gujarat High Court’s January 2024 judgment, which had upheld Bhatt’s conviction.
Case Background
The case relates to the custodial death of Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani in November 1990. At the time, Sanjiv Bhatt was serving as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Jamnagar and had detained 133 people, including Vaishnani, during a Bharat Bandh-related protest. Vaishnani was held for nine days and died ten days after being released on bail.
An FIR was registered against Bhatt and others alleging custodial torture. Although the Magistrate took cognizance of the case in 1995, the trial remained stalled until 2011 due to a stay from the Gujarat High Court. The stay was later lifted, and the trial proceeded.
In June 2019, the Sessions Court in Jamnagar convicted Bhatt and constable Pravinsinh Zala under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 506(1) (criminal intimidation), sentencing them to life imprisonment. Other officers, including sub-inspectors and constables, were also convicted under Sections 323 and 506(1) for custodial torture.
The Gujarat High Court later dismissed the appeals filed by Bhatt and others, including police sub-inspectors Shailesh Pandya and Dipakkumar Shah. The bench of Justices Ashutosh Shastri and Sandeep N. Bhatt found the Sessions Court's findings to be well-founded.
In the Supreme Court, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal represented Bhatt and argued that Bhatt had already spent over five years in custody. He claimed there was no solid medical proof of torture and that the victim had not complained about police abuse after his release.
"There is no evidence of physical torture. The victim died almost 20 days after release, and the family doctor was not informed of any mistreatment,"
– Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal
However, representing the State of Gujarat, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh presented medical evidence indicating that the victim's death was due to kidney failure caused by police torture, including forced sit-ups and crawling. Singh further mentioned that Bhatt was already serving a 20-year sentence in another case related to planting drugs and argued that there were no valid reasons to grant bail.
"The evidence shows custodial torture caused renal failure. Bhatt’s previous convictions and the serious nature of the charges do not justify suspension of sentence,"
– Senior Advocate Maninder Singh
Case Details: Sanjiv Kumar Rajendrabhai Bhatt v. The State of Gujarat and Anr. [SLP(Crl) No. 11736/2024], remains under appeal, and the top court has now directed a fast-tracked hearing of the matter.
Appearances: Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, Devadatt Kamat and Advocates Rajesh G. Inamdar and Shashwat Anand, appeared for Bhatt. for Sanjiv Bhatt; Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, for the State of Gujarat and Advocate Vanshaja Shukla, for the informant(brother of the deceased).
