Sanjiv Bhatt not allowed to execute Vakalatnama, Wife moves Supreme Court

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the State of Gujarat in a petition filed by Shweta Bhatt, wife of former IPS Officer Sanjiv Bhatt alleging that Sanjiv Bhatt is not being allowed to execute Vakalatnama to move the Supreme Court..A Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha took note of the allegation in the application filed by Shweta Bhatt and asked the Gujarat government to respond to the same..The court in its order today noted that the petitioner in her application has alleged the following:.“3. That petitioner’s husband has been taken into custody in the most arbitrary manner and he has also been taken on Police Custody Remand. The petitioner’s husband is not allowed to execute Vakalatnama and any other documents required mandatorily to file the present Special Leave Petition.”.The Court said that it will seek the Gujarat government’s response to the same before going into the merits of the case..In what could be an indicator of the mood of the Bench with regard to the said averment by Shweta Bhatt, the Court also noted in its order that the allegation in paragraph 3 raises issue of great and substantial importance as it pertains to allegations made against the State in virtually preventing citizens from approaching the Supreme Court..“We have taken the above view as, according to us, the issue raised by the averments made in paragraph 3 of the application for permission to file Special Leave Petition raises issue of great and substantial importance as it pertains to allegations made against the State in virtually preventing citizens from approaching this Court.”.It proceeded to direct the State of Gujarat to file its response before September 28. The matter will be heard on October 4..Bhatt who was arrested in a 22-year-old case relating to planting of drugs, has been in the custody of Gujarat CID since September 5..Read the order below. .Image taken from here.