Supreme Court refuses former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt’s plea for bail, suspension of sentence in 1990 custodial death case

Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhat. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the expedited hearing of a criminal appeal filed by former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt, while rejecting his plea for interim bail and suspension of his life sentence in a 1990 custodial death case.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said, “We are not inclined to enlarge the appellant on bail… however, the hearing of the appeal is directed to be expedited.”

Justice Mehta pronounced the judgment for the Bench.

The judgment was based on an aplication made by Bhatt challenging the Gujarat High Court’s January 2024 verdict, which had affirmed the conviction and life sentence imposed on Bhatt by the Jamnagar Sessions Court in 2019.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Devadatt Kamat, along with advocates Rajesh G. Inamdar and Shashwat Anand, appearing for Sanjiv Bhatt, had emphasised the prolonged incarceration of over five years and the absence of direct medical evidence linking Bhatt to the alleged torture, arguing that the conviction was not sustainable.

Mr. Sibal had submitted that the victim, Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani, had been released on bail and had not alleged custodial violence at the time of his release. He had contended that the cause of death was linked to pre-existing medical conditions, not police action.

The State of Gujarat, represented by senior advocate Maninder Singh and advocate Swati Ghildiyal, opposed the plea.

Mr. Singh had argued that medical reports established a causal link between custodial mistreatment and the victim’s death due to renal failure. He had referred to Bhatt’s conviction in another criminal matter, citing a lack of grounds to justify suspension of sentence.

The custodial death case pertains to the alleged torture of Vaishnani, one of 133 persons detained during a Bharat Bandh in November 1990, when Bhatt was serving as Assistant Superintendent of Police, Jamnagar. Vaishnani died 10 days after being released on bail. The trial commenced in 2011 following the lifting of a long-standing stay and culminated in a 2019 verdict sentencing Bhatt and another police officer to life imprisonment for offences, including murder.