Supreme Court Asks Gujarat to Respond to Former IPS Sanjiv Bhatt’s Appeal Ex-Police Officer Appeals against Life Sentence in Custodial Death Case
The Supreme Court of India has provided the biggest relief so far in the long judicial fight of former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale consequently sought a response from the Gujarat government over Bhatt’s plea challenging his life imprisonment awarded for a 1990 custodial death case that has all these years received high decibel publicity due to its complicated legal and political ramifications.
Background of the Case
The case against Sanjiv Bhatt relates to the death of one Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani, who allegedly died after custodial torture in November 1990. Bhatt was then posted as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Vaishnani was among 132 people arrested following rioting during a protest. He was remanded in police custody for nine days and died ten days after being released on bail due to renal failure.
Subsequently, Vaishnani’s brother lodged a complaint against Bhatt and six other police officers, accusing them of torturing Prabhudas to death in custody. The case took its course, culminating in the sentencing of Bhatt and a constable to life imprisonment by a Jamnagar court in 2019 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 302 for murder. Earlier this month, the Gujarat High Court rejected an appeal by Bhatt, thereby confirming the sentence.
Notice by Supreme Court and Related Petitions
The Supreme Court decision on the issuance of notice to the Gujarat government has come at a critical juncture in the ongoing legal battle being fought by Bhatt. With the issuance of notice, the court has granted an agreement to hear Bhatt’s petition challenging the order of the Gujarat High Court that had upheld his life sentence. The bench has also decided to club his case with other related pending petitions before the apex court. That simply means this case is part of a broader examination of custodial death allegations and their legal ramifications.
The bench ordered thus: “Issue notice returnable in four weeks,” thereby marking a deadline for the Government of Gujarat to respond to the notice. In that processual movement, it would therefore appear that the Supreme Court is keen on undertaking a close look at the circumstances of Bhatt’s conviction and the series of judicial verdicts leading to his situation.
Allegations Beyond the Custodial Death Case
Extra-judicial death obviates the deep and wide legal troubles of Sanjiv Bhatt. In yet another case, Bhatt was arrested in September 2018 for his alleged complicity in framing someone in a drug-related case. The custodial death case, among others, thus portrays an erstwhile cop involved in many legal wrangles.
More recently, Bhatt’s name seems to be being dragged into the 2002 Gujarat riots. Charged with an activist, Teesta Setalvad, and former Gujarat Director General of Police RB Sreekumar, he faces allegations of having fabricated evidence related to the riots. These additional allegations have further embroiled Bhatt in a web of legal wrangles that point in almost all directions at the impact of the nature of law enforcement on politics and justice.
Sanjiv Bhatt’s battle with the Gujarat government goes way back in history. It took a better tune when he was associated with the 2002 Gujarat riots case. The situation escalated when Bhatt filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India. He named then-Chief Minister of the state, Narendra Modi, as party to the 2010 petition. This move put Bhatt in the limelight as a vocal and serious critic of Modi and the handling of riots by the Gujarat government. However, an SIT assigned to investigate the matter threw aside the allegations levelled by Bhatt and raised questions over his claims, further demolishing his legal position.
Legal and Political Consequences
The intervention of the Supreme Court into the case of Bhatt bears a number of legal and political consequences. Done so far: It essentially underlines the role of the judiciary to ensure that individual rights are protected, even if they have been previously convicted in lower courts. The decision to issue notice to the Gujarat government at this stage and to club the case of Bhatt along with other related petitions reflects a strong signal to tangle through the questions on custodial deaths, alleged police misconduct, and the broader question of accountability in the larger Indian police system.
The case of Bhatt is politically contested because he has, in the past, kept pending several allegations on the heads of some heavyweight political leaders. The treatment of his case and its consequences may be related to other cases that might arise in the future and perhaps might relate to changing public perception of the competence and impartiality of the judiciary in the dispensation of justice.
The Way Forward
The fate of Sanjiv Bhatt hangs in the balance with the ball in the Gujarat government’s court even as the Supreme Court has given the state four weeks to present its case. A bench of justices BR Gavai and AK Menon have allowed the state government to inform the court of the facts existing against Bhatt, a senior advocate. That Bhatt may appear to be the light at the end of the tunnel on the hope that the highest court in the country may be convinced to revisit his conviction and consider the circumstances that have led it to award him life sentence.
News activists-either directly concerned with the case or having their concerns on the broad issues of justice, human rights, and accountability of law enforcement authorities-are keenly watching how Bhatt’s plea will pan out in the long run, with the Supreme Court treading over intricate legal and political terrain in this high-profile case.
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