A court in Porbandar has acquitted former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a 1997 custodial torture case, stating that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. Bhatt, who was serving as the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Porbandar at the time of the incident, had been accused of torturing a man, Naran Jadav, to extract a confession in a case under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and the Arms Act.
The case stemmed from Jadav’s allegations that Bhatt, along with a police constable, subjected him to physical and mental torture in police custody. The charges included Section 330 (causing hurt to extort confession) and Section 324 (causing hurt with dangerous weapons) of the Indian Penal Code. However, the court found that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence to establish the charges against Bhatt.
The court also noted that the required sanction to prosecute Bhatt, who was a public servant at the time discharging his official duties, had not been obtained. This factor was cited as a reason for the acquittal.
Sanjiv Bhatt had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1990 custodial death case in Jamnagar and had also served a 20-year sentence in connection with a 1996 case involving the planting of drugs to frame a Rajasthan-based lawyer in Palanpur. Bhatt is currently serving his sentence in Rajkot Central Jail.
In the same case, the charges against constable Vajubhai Chau were abated following his death. Despite the acquittal in this particular case, Bhatt’s legal battles continue, with multiple cases against him still pending in the courts.
