Gujarat Court convicts Sanjiv Bhatt in 28-year-old drug planting case

A Sessions Court in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district on Wednesday convicted former Indian Police Service (IPS) Officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a drug-planting case dating back to 1996..Additional Sessions Judge N Thakkar after finding Bhatt guilty adjourned the case to Thursday for pronouncement of decision with regard to sentencing.Bhatt, who is already in jail in a custodial death case, was arrested in the drug planting case in 2018. .The case under the provisions of Indian Penal Code and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) originated in a case pertaining to the arrest of a Rajasthan-based lawyer Sumer Singh Rajpurohit in 1996 by the Basankantha Police following alleged recovery of drugs from his hotel room in Palanpur.Bhatt was the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Palanpur, at the time. Rajpurohit, who was discharged in the case, later accused Bhatt and other police officials of planting the drugs to frame him. The same was done only to harass the lawyer with regard to a property dispute, it was alleged..In February 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea filed by him challenging a Gujarat High Court order which extended the time to complete the trial till March 31, 2023. The Supreme Court had termed the plea to be 'frivolous' and imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on Bhatt.Bhatt is known for being a vocal critic of the Narendra Modi-led government. Prior to his dismissal from service, he had filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court alleging that the Modi-led Gujarat government had a complicit role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.He was dismissed from service by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 2015 on grounds of unauthorised absence from service..The Gujarat High Court earlier this year dismissed his appeal against the conviction and life sentence imposed on him by a Jamnagar sessions court in a custodial death case. The case pertained to an incident which took place in 1990 when Bhatt was the additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar district.