In a significant legal development, former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has been sentenced to 20 years in jail by a sessions court in Palanpur, Gujarat, for his involvement in a 1996 case of planting drugs to frame a lawyer. Additional District and Sessions Judge J N Thakkar convicted Bhatt under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Indian Penal Code.
The case dates back to 1996 when Bhatt, serving as the Banaskantha superintendent of police, falsely implicated a Rajasthan-based lawyer by claiming that drugs were seized from a hotel room in Palanpur where the lawyer was staying. This conviction marks a significant legal setback for Bhatt, who has been behind bars since 2018 and was dismissed from the force in 2015.
The court clarified that Bhatt’s 20-year sentence will be served consecutively, starting after the completion of his life sentence in the Jamnagar custodial death case. Along with the lengthy prison term, Bhatt has also been fined ₹2 lakh, with an additional year of imprisonment if he fails to pay the fine.
Bhatt was found guilty under various 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). Additionally, he was convicted under sections of the NDPS Act, such as possession of drugs (section 21), financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders (section 27A), and wilfully and maliciously giving false information to arrest someone or conduct a search (section 58-2).
Following the verdict, Bhatt’s lawyer SB Thakor announced plans to challenge the decision in the High Court. Thakor argued that the court’s presumption regarding the drug planting charge lacked concrete evidence.
This case is not the only legal challenge faced by Bhatt. In 2019, a sessions court in Jamnagar convicted him of murder in a 1990 custodial death case, resulting in a life imprisonment sentence. The Supreme Court has previously dismissed Bhatt’s plea to transfer the trial in the drug planting case to another sessions court, citing bias allegations and demanding the recording of trial court proceedings.
Sources By Agencies
