The Supreme Court has denied bail to ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a custodial death case, but has also directed the hearing against the life sentence handed out be expedited.
"We are not inclined to grant Sanjiv Bhatt bail. The prayer of bail is dismissed. The hearing of the appeal shall not be affected. The hearing of the appeal is expedited," a bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta said.
Mr Bhatt had sought bail and suspension of his sentence.
The case in question relates to a custodial death in Jamnagar in Gujarat in 1990, when Mr Bhatt was an Additional Superintendent of Police. He had detained over 130 people after a riot broke.
This was after the ruling party, the BJP, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, called for a Bharat Bandh to protest the arrest of veteran party leader LK Advani. That, in turn, was before Mr Advani, then the BJP chief, took out a yatra to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
One of the detained persons died in custody.
There were allegations of custodial torture.
A police case was then filed against Mr Bhatt and others.
A sessions court convicted Sanjiv Bhatt and sentenced him to life in prison. The Gujarat High Court in January 2024 dismissed an appeal against the sentence and verdict.
He then approached the Supreme Court, which issued notice to the Gujarat government in 2004 and reserved its verdict.
Mr Bhatt is an accused in two other cases as well - a 1996 drug planting case and a 1997 custodial torture case. He was convicted by a sessions court in the 1996 case and sentenced to 20 years in prison. His appeal against the same is pending before the Gujarat High Court.
He was acquitted in the latter case in December 2024 by a magistrate's court.
