NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of convicted former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a 1990 custodial death case in which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The apex court will hear Bhatt's appeal in an expeditious manner, noting the fact that today's is an interim judgement in the case.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said there was no merit in his plea for bail or the suspension of sentence in the case.
"We are not inclined to grant Sanjiv Bhatt bail. The prayer of bail is dismissed. The hearing of appeal shall not be affected. The hearing of appeal is expedited," Justice Nath said while pronouncing the verdict.
The appeal of Bhatt against the conviction and life imprisonment is presently pending in the top court. Bhatt has moved the top court in 2024, challenging the Gujarat High Court's January 9, 2024 order dismissing his appeal.
The high court also upheld the conviction of Bhatt and co-accused Pravinsinh Zala under Sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
The high court had dismissed the state government's appeal seeking to enhance the sentences of five other accused who were acquitted of murder charges but convicted under Sections 323 and 506.
According to the prosecution, Bhatt is the prime accused in the custodial death of Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani.
On October 30, 1990, then additional superintendent of police Bhatt detained around 150 people following a communal riot in Jamjodhpur town following a 'bandh' call against the halting of BJP leader L K Advani's 'rath yatra' for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Prabhudas Vaishnani, one of the detained persons, was later released on bail. On November 18, 1990, Vaishnani died in a hospital due to renal failure.
Vaishnani's brother accused Bhatt and six other police officials of torturing him in custody and causing his death.
A Sessions Court in Jamnagar sentenced Bhatt to life imprisonment in June 2019, after convicting him under Sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Gujarat High Court later, in 2024, upheld the Jamnagar court verdict. The high court refused to entertain Bhatt's bail plea after finding no grounds for intereference in the trial court's judgement.
Challenging the high court Judgement, Bhatt filed an appeal in the top court.
Bhatt was arrested earlier on September 5, 2018, in another case where he is accused of falsely implicating a man for drug possession.
The trial in the case is underway.
He is also an accused in a case of alleged fabrication of evidence in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots cases along with activist Teesta Setalvad and former Gujarat director general of police R B Sreekumar.
(With inputs from PTI)