A court in Gujarat’s Porbandar has acquitted former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a 1997 custodial torture case, citing the prosecution’s failure to “prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.”
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Mukesh Pandya delivered the verdict on Saturday, granting Bhatt the benefit of the doubt due to insufficient evidence.
The case stemmed from allegations under IPC sections 330 (causing hurt to extort confession) and 324 (causing hurt with dangerous weapons). Bhatt, who was then the superintendent of police (SP) of Porbandar, and constable Vajubhai Chau, who passed away during the trial, were accused of torturing complainant Naran Jadav in custody to extract a confession in a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and Arms Act case.
The court noted that the sanction required to prosecute Bhatt, as a public servant acting in the line of duty, had not been obtained. It also observed that the prosecution failed to establish beyond doubt that the complainant was coerced into confessing through physical and mental torture, including threats and use of dangerous weapons.
Sanjiv Bhatt is currently serving life imprisonment in a 1990 custodial death case in Jamnagar. In addition, in March 2024, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by a court in Palanpur, Banaskantha district, in a 1996 case involving planting drugs to frame a Rajasthan-based lawyer.
The acquittal in the Porbandar case comes amidst Bhatt’s ongoing incarceration at Rajkot Central Jail. While this verdict absolves him of one set of allegations, his convictions in the earlier cases remain intact. Bhatt’s legal battles continue to draw attention, given his controversial tenure and the allegations of misconduct during his service as an IPS officer.