NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea for bail and suspension of life term sentence of life term handed down to a sacked Gujarat cadre IPS officer, Sanjiv Bhatt in a 1990 custodial death case.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta declined the plea by Bhatt, ordered for expediting hearing on his appeal.
"Prayer for grant of bail is dismissed and hearing on appeal is expedited," Justice Mehta said, pronouncing the order.
Bhatt has been a bitter critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had earlier filed an affidavit against Modi concerning his role in 2002 Gujarat riots. His wife Shweta had in 2012 contested Gujarat Assembly polls in Maninagar seat against Modi on a Congress ticket.
The Gujarat High Court had in 2024 upheld the Jamnagar Court's decision, finding no grounds for interference with his conviction in the custodial death case.
In June 2019, a Sessions Court in Jamnagar sentenced Bhatt and police constable Pravinsinh Zala to life imprisonment, finding them guilty under sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Other officers involved received convictions under lesser charges.
The case concerned the custodial death of Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani, who was allegedly tortured while in police custody during the tenure of Bhatti as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Jamnagar.
Vaishnani was among 133 individuals detained during a Bharat Bandh in November 1990 called due to arrest of senior BJP leader L K Advani in Bihar during his 'Rath Yatra'. He died days after being released on bail, with renal failure cited as the cause of death.
Bhatt, who was given charge of Additional SP, Jamnagar, claimed the present incident related to death of Prabhudas Vaishnani happened 18 days after his release from police custody on November 18, 1990.
