Notice to Gujarat government on Sanjeev Bhatt’s petition, case is related to LK Advani’s Rath Yatra

Sanjeev Bhatt Latest News: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Gujarat government on the petition of former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjiv Bhatt, challenging the decision of convicting him and sentencing him to life imprisonment in a 1990 custodial death case. A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Prasanna B Varale said, “The notice should be responded to in four weeks.”

The bench listed the petition along with other pending applications in the case. Sanjiv Bhatt has approached the Supreme Court against the Gujarat High Court’s January 9, 2024 order dismissing his appeal. The High Court had upheld the conviction of Sanjiv Bhatt and co-accused Praveen Singh Jala under sections 302 (murder), 323 (intentional injury) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Sanjeev Bhatt and Praveen Singh Jala are in jail

The High Court had rejected the state government’s appeal seeking enhancement of the sentence of five other accused who were acquitted of murder charges but convicted under sections 323 and 506 of the IPC. Sanjeev Bhatt and Praveen Singh Jala are still behind bars. At the same time, the court has cancelled the bail bonds of five other accused released from jail.

In its judgment, the division bench said, “We have also studied the reasoning given by the subordinate court while convicting the concerned accused persons for the offences punishable under section 302 of the IPC.” It said, “In view of the evidence on record, we are of the opinion that the decision of the subordinate court to convict (five) accused for the offences punishable under section 323 is correct.”

Sanjeev Bhatt had taken 150 people into custody

Sanjeev Bhatt and Praveen Singh Jala were convicted of murder by the Jamnagar Sessions Court on June 20, 2019. The then Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Bhatt had arrested the accused on October 30, 1990 in Ayodhya. Ram Mandir About 150 people were detained during the communal riot that broke out in Jamjodhpur town following a ‘bandh’ called against the stopping of the ‘Rath Yatra’ of senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, being taken out for the construction of the .

One of the detained persons, Prabhudas Vaishnani, died in hospital after his release. Vaishnani’s brother had accused Sanjiv Bhatt and six other police officers of torturing his brother in custody and causing his death. Sanjiv Bhatt was arrested on September 5, 2018, in another case in which he is accused of framing a man for drug possession. The trial in the case is ongoing.