SC issues notice on Sanjiv Bhatt's appeal against conviction in custodial death case
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the State of Gujarat in response to a plea by former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, challenging the Gujarat High Court's dismissal of his appeal against a conviction and life imprisonment sentence. The sentence was handed down by a Jamnagar Court in connection with a 1990 custodial death case.
The Bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna Bhalachandra Varale, has tagged Bhatt’s petition with other related pleas pending before the Supreme Court. Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Devdatt Kamat, representing Bhatt, highlighted the need for a hearing, leading the court to set a returnable notice within four weeks.
Bhatt was convicted for the custodial death of Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani, who was allegedly tortured while in police custody during his tenure as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Jamnagar. Vaishnani was among 133 individuals detained during a Bharat Bandh in November 1990. He died ten days after being released on bail, with renal failure cited as the cause of death.
In June 2019, a Sessions Court in Jamnagar sentenced Bhatt and police constable Pravinsinh Zala to life imprisonment, finding them guilty under sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Other officers involved received convictions under lesser charges.
The Gujarat High Court, earlier this year, upheld the Jamnagar Court's decision, finding no grounds for interference in the conviction. Bhatt’s appeal against this decision is now pending before the Supreme Court.
In a separate case, Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2024 for a 1996 drug-planting case.
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Double-decker electric bus gutted in fire at Kurla BEST depot
Mumbai (PTI): An empty double-decker electric bus was gutted in a fire during servicing at a BEST depot in Mumbai's Kurla area on Sunday, officials said, adding that nobody was injured.
The blaze broke out inside the Kurla BEST bus depot near Kanakia Building at 4.14 pm, according to preliminary information from the Mumbai Fire Brigade.
The parked bus was unoccupied at the time of the incident.
Fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control. The exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, they said.
No injuries were reported in the incident, officials added.
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has hired 50 electric double-decker buses from Switch Mobility in its fleet of around 2,700 buses.
