Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has dismissed the petition of controversial Ex-IPS Officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who sought the transfer of his trial in the alleged 1996 drug planting case from Palanpur to another court. Justice Samir Dave, while declining Bhatt’s plea, also rejected his challenge against three orders issued by the trial court on June 13. Bhatt’s request for audio and video recordings of court proceedings at his expense was turned down by the lower court in that order.

Justice Samir Dave, while rejecting the Bhatt plea against the lower court, pointed out that “the petitioner is a serial abuser of legal process. He has scant regard for the judicial process. By applying his knowledge of the administration of the criminal law system in a negative way, he has been trying to cripple the said system.”

The former controversial IPS officer had contested a decision made by a sessions court on June 8, where district judge R G Devdhara dismissed his plea to change the trial venue from the court of additional sessions judge J N Thakkar to the most senior additional sessions judge alleging bias against the presiding officer.

Justice Dave emphasized, “The petitioner has failed to establish any bias in the case, and his allegations of bias are merely an attempt to scandalize and pressure the court.”

The High Court highlighted that all cases under the NDPS Act were transferred to the most senior additional sessions judge in 2018 as a routine measure, aiming to accelerate proceedings. The court noted Bhatt’s insistence on transfer was a tactic to delay the trial.

The court observed that Bhatt was sidestepping the rigorous imprisonment and benefiting from the present trial’s delay, avoiding life imprisonment in a central jail as ordered in his conviction.

After dismissing both applications, Justice Dave declined to halt further trial court proceedings. DeshGujarat