Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court today rejected the bail application of sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a custodial death case in which he was convicted with life term by a court in Jamnagar on June 20 this year.

The Division bench of justice Bela Trivedi and Justice A C Rao also rejected the bail plea of co-convict former constable Pravinsinh Zala.

The Gujarat high court would later hear the plea of Bhatt challenging his conviction by the lower court.

He is behind bars since September 2018 after his arrest in another case under NDPS Act for allegedly keeping drugs in a hotel in Palanpur city of North Gujarat to allegedly implicate a man.

Earlier this month another judge of the high court Justice VB Mayani, had recused himself from hearing the matter.

A local sessions court in Jamnagar awarded life sentence to Bhatt (55) in connection with an around 3 decade old custodial death case.

Bhatt in the capacity of the then ASP of Jamnagar in 1990 ordered the detention of over 100 people in connection with a riot in Jamjodhpur town of Jamnagar district in Gujarat. After they were released one of them Prabhudas Vaishnani had died in hospital. His brother Amritbhai later filed a case alleging that he had died due to custodial torture by eight policemen including Bhatt and then constable Pravin Zala.

The court held Bhatt guilty and awarded life term to him. Zala was also given similar punishment.

Notably, Bhatt, A Gujarat cadre IPS was suspended by the state government in 2011 for long absence from duty and was later sacked for the same in August 2015.

He is currently in judicial custody in connection with a drug planting case.

Bhatt had earlier on June 12 approached the Supreme Court seeking permission for examination of additional 10 witnesses in the custodial death case but the court refused to entertain his plea. The Gujarat government had opposed it saying that it was a delay tactic at a time the lower court has completed the final hearing was to pronounce the verdict.

Bhatt had during his service period filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, alleging that then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had asked senior police officers in a meeting at his official residence to allow the Hindu community to vent its anger after the Godhra train carnage in February 2002. The Special Investigation Team which probed the 2002 riots concluded that Bhatt, being a junior official, could not have been present at this meeting, and hence his account was not credible.

Yesterday a local court here had also ordered probe in to the alleged crowd funding campaign of Bhatt and his family.

DeshGujarat