The Gujarat High Court has begun hearing a plea filed by former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjiv Bhatt, challenging a sessions court order that reinstated charges against him in a decades-old custodial death case.
The case dates back to 1990, when Bhatt was serving as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Jamnagar. During a bandh that year, he reportedly detained more than a hundred people, including one Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani. According to the prosecution, Vaishnani died from injuries allegedly sustained while in police custody, prompting accusations of custodial torture against Bhatt and other officers involved in the operation.
A Jamnagar sessions court later convicted Bhatt and a constable under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to murder, causing hurt, and criminal intimidation, sentencing them to life imprisonment. The Gujarat High Court upheld the conviction in 2024, and in April 2025, the Supreme Court dismissed Bhatt’s plea seeking suspension of his sentence.
In his latest petition, Bhatt has contested a June 2025 order by the sessions court that overturned an earlier magistrate’s discharge order and directed that charges be framed once again. The matter was heard on October 15 by Justice R. T. Vachchani, who adjourned the hearing to December 8. The judge clarified that the ongoing proceedings would not interfere with the execution of Bhatt’s existing life sentence under the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.
This development adds another chapter to the long legal battle of the former IPS officer, who has consistently maintained that the charges against him are politically motivated. The High Court’s next hearing in December is expected to determine whether the fresh charges can stand alongside his ongoing imprisonment.
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