1996 drug planting case: Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has been sentenced to 20 years in jail by a sessions court in Palanpur, Gujarat's Banaskantha district, in a case dating back to 1996 involving the planting of drugs to frame a lawyer.
Bhatt was found guilty of falsely implicating a Rajasthan-based lawyer by falsely claiming in 1996 that police had seized drugs in a hotel room in Palanpur where the lawyer was staying. At the time, Bhatt served as the Banaskantha superintendent of police.
Sanjiv Bhatt in custody since 2018
The court clarified that Bhatt must serve the 20-year sentence consecutively, meaning it will commence after the completion of his life sentence in the Jamnagar custodial death case. Dismissed from the force in 2015, Bhatt has been in custody since 2018.
Additional District and Sessions Judge J N Thakkar convicted Bhatt on Wednesday under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Indian Penal Code. The sentencing was announced on Thursday.
In addition to the 20-year jail term, former IPS officer Bhatt has been fined Rs 2 lakh, with an additional one-year jail term prescribed if he fails to pay the fine, as stated by the judge in his order.
Bhatt was found guilty under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including section 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 465 (forgery), and 120b (criminal conspiracy). He was also convicted under various provisions of the NDPS Act, including section 21 (possession of drugs), 27A (financing illicit traffic and harboring offenders), and 58-2 (willfully and maliciously giving false information to arrest someone or conduct a search).
Bhatt's lawyer SB Thakor stated to reporters that his client intends to challenge the verdict in the High Court. "The court only presumed that opium was purchased and planted (by Bhatt). Otherwise, there was no concrete evidence to prove that charge," Thakor said.
Bhatt had arrested Rajasthan lawyer under NDPS Act
The district police, led by Bhatt, had arrested Rajasthan lawyer Sumersingh Rajpurohit under the NDPS Act, alleging that drugs (opium) were seized from the hotel room in Palanpur where Rajpurohit was staying.
However, the Rajasthan police later stated that Rajpurohit was falsely implicated by the Banaskantha police to coerce him into transferring a disputed property located in Pali, a neighboring state.
Former police inspector I B Vyas petitioned the Gujarat High Court in 1999, seeking a thorough inquiry into the case.
Supreme Court dismissed Bhatt's plea
Bhatt was arrested by the state CID in September 2018 in a drug case under the NDPS Act and has been in Palanpur sub-jail since then.
Last year, Bhatt approached the Supreme Court, seeking the a transfer of the trial in the drug planting case to another sessions court, alleging bias. He also requested directions for recording the trial court proceedings.
However, the Supreme Court dismissed Bhatt's plea and imposed a cost of Rs 3 lakh on him for alleging bias against a lower court judge conducting the trial in the drug planting case.
During the pendency of the trial in the drug planting case, a sessions court in Jamnagar, in 2019, convicted Bhatt of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment in a 1990 custodial death case.
The custodial death occurred when Bhatt was the additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar district.
(With PTI inputs)
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