Former IPS Officer Sanjiv Bhatt Moves Gujarat High Court Against Order Quashing Discharge In Custodial Torture Case

Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has moved the Gujarat High Court challenging Jamnagar sessions court's decision quashing a magistrate court's order which had discharged him in an alleged custodial torture case. 

The magistrate court had in 2024 discharged Bhatt; however the sessions court in June this year quashed the magistrate court's order and directed the magistrate court to frame charges against Bhatt and other former officials. Against this Bhatt has approached the high court. 

The present case is connected to the same incident wherein one of the detainees Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani had died allegedly due to custodial torture. At the time, Bhatt was the Assistant Superintendent of Police Jamnagar, who, along with other officers, took into custody about 133 persons, including Vaishnani, for rioting during a Bharat Bandh.

With respect to the death of Vaishnani, the sessions court had in 2019 sentenced Bhatt and a police constable Pravinsinh Zala to life imprisonment in the case after convicting them under sections 302 (murder), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (1) (punishment for offence of criminal intimidation) of IPC. This was upheld by the Gujarat High Court in 2024. The Supreme Court had in April refused to suspend Bhatt's life sentence in this matter. 

Justice RT Vachchani after hearing the present revision plea on October 15 said:

Case title: SANJIV RAJENDRA BHATT v/s MAHESH DANJI CHITRODA

R/CRIMINAL REVISION APPLICATION NO. 1946 of 2025

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