1990 atrocity case: Bhatt seeks relief from Gujarat HC again

Suspended Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt on approached the Gujarat high court once again, seeking a relief in the 1990 alleged police atrocity case, in which, one person had died and sought quashing of an order of Jamnagar court refusing to defer framing of charges against him.

Bhatt has also sought a stay on all court proceedings against him, in relation to the two-decade old case as an interim relief. The matter came up for hearing before Justice J C Upadhyay, who deferred it till tomorrow.

On December 9, a fast track court of Judge N P Solanki of the Jamkhambhalia taluka in Jamnagar rejected application of Bhatt, seeking deferment on framing of charges against him. Bhatt has contended that his criminal revision application, filed earlier, was pending before the same court and till it is not heard and disposed off, charges should not be framed against him.

The court rejected Bhatt's application and scheduled the next hearing on December 27, when the charges are likely to be framed against him and six other accused in the case.

Bhatt on Tuesday challenged the legality and validity of this order of the Jamnagar court and contented that the order was illegal, erroneous and contrary to the documentary evidences produced before the court. He has further alleged in his petition that court did not take into consideration his criminal revision application and plea for condonation of delay pending before the same court.

Bhatt contended that once Jamnagar court goes ahead with framing of charges against him and other accused, his criminal revision application would become infructuous, which violates his right under Article 20 and 21 of Constitution of India.

Bhatt has further contended that death of one person in the case was not homicidal, based on which, he has been alleged of murder.

In September, Bhatt had approached the Gujarat high court, seeking relief in the two-decade-old police atrocity case, by challenging the state government's decision to withdraw a plea, seeking revision of a  Jamkhambhliya court's order, initiating criminal proceedings against him and six others.

Bhatt's petition was rejected by Justice R H Shukla of the Gujarat high court on October 10, which he had challenged in the Supreme Court.

The apex court last month had refused to grant relief to Bhatt in the case and declined to entertain the petition seeking the reversal of a state government order, withdrawing a revision petition in the case.

According to case details, one Prahbudas Vaishnani, who was arrested during a communal flare-up in Jamkhambhalia town in Jamnagar in 1990, died in a hospital few days after he was released from police custody.

Following this, Vaishnani's family members filed a complaint against Bhatt and six others for police atrocity, leading to death of a person.

The case was probed by the state CID, which gave Bhatt and other cops a clean chit, but the magistrate, presiding over the case did not accept CID report and initiated criminal proceedings against Bhatt and others.

The Gujarat government then took the position that Bhatt and others had acted in discharge of their official responsibilities and filed a revision petition in the session court in 1996 halting the criminal proceedings. This revision petition was withdrawn by the state government in July, thereby exposing Bhatt and others to prosecution.

Bhatt, who is under suspension, had in April this year alleged complicity of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

The 1988-batch IPS officer is presently out on bail after his arrest on September 30 in connection with a first information report filed against him by a police constable for allegedly threatening him, wrongfully confining him and making him sign a false affidavit.