Sanjiv Bhatt sentenced. Why this case should not become about Bhatt vs Narendra Modi
Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Jamnagar sessions court in Gujarat, which found him guilty in a 1990 custodial death case.
As per reports, another accused policeman, Pravinsinh Jhala, has also been awarded life imprisonment in the case, while the judgment on four others is awaited.
Sanjiv Bhatt came to the limelight after he took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 Gujarat riots. It is for this reason as well that Bhatt's trail and conviction generated so much heat.
Here's a look at the case against Bhatt and how the conviction came about.
In 1990, Bhatt was the assistant superintendent of police, Jamnagar. A riot broke out in Jamnagar during a Bharat Bandh protest.
Bhatt and his men reportedly took into custody 133 persons — one of those arrested was Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani. Vaishnani, who was kept in custody for nine days, died after being released on bail. According to the medical records, Vaishnani died of renal failure. A FIR was filed against Bhatt and others for custodial torture that led to Vaishnani's death. A total of seven police officers were accused in the case, including two sub inspectors and three police constables.
The magistrate, however, took cognisance of the case in 1995. Even after that, the Gujarat High Court put a stay on trial in the case. It was in 2011 that the trial could finally commence.
In 2015, Bhatt was sacked as IPS officer on grounds of "unauthorised absence". In October 2015, the Supreme Court observed, "Bhatt was in active touch with leaders of rival political party, was being tutored by NGOs, was involved in politics and activism of creating pressure even upon 3-judge bench of this court, amicus and many others."
Bhatt had moved a petition in the Supreme Court that additional witnesses be examined in his case. He contended that while 300 witnesses were listed by the prosecution, only 32 were actually examined.
When Bhatt took on Modi
In April 2011, Bhatt had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, accusing then-chief minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 riots. Bhatt claimed to have attended a meeting on February 27, 2002, where he claimed Modi allegedly passed instructions to not take action against rioters.
The Supreme Court-ordered SIT, however, found the allegations baseless and gave Modi a clean chit.
The court questioned what had prevented Bhatt from approaching it earlier if he was really present at the claimed February 2002 meeting.
It noted that Bhatt filed a petition in this regard only in 2011 — and did not state this fact even when he recorded his statement before the Commission in 2009.
The spotlight is now back on Bhatt. But the most crucial point to note in this case is the case Bhatt has been sentenced for — the death of an arrested person after having been in custody — and not to hold the apparent violation of a basic human right to custody of another set of vititated politics.