1996 NDPS case: Sanjiv Bhatt seeks recall of court order directing probe

Bhatt was arrested in September 2018 after the Gujarat HC directed the CID to probe the case in which Sumer Singh Rajpurohit was booked for allegedly keeping 1.5 kg opium at a Palanpur hotel in 1996.

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Bhatt is serving life imprisonment after his conviction in a 1990 case of custodial torture. (Photo: Javed Raja)

Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt filed a fresh application in the Gujarat High Court on Friday, seeking recall of a 2018 order by the same court, ordering the investigation of an FIR at the Palanpur city police station that accused Bhatt of planting drugs.

Arguments were put forth by both sides and decision is pending.

Bhatt was arrested in September 2018 after the Gujarat HC directed the CID to probe the case in which Sumer Singh Rajpurohit was booked for allegedly keeping 1.5 kg opium at a Palanpur hotel in 1996. Rajpurohit filed a case against Bhatt back then, who was serving as superintendent of police at Banaskantha.

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“The application was primarily moved on the ground that an A-summary report was filed by the police in February 2000, indicating that an investigation was carried out but no evidence was found,” Bhatt’s lawyer Saurin Shah told this paper.

Justice JB Pardiwala in April 2018 directed that the investigation in the matter be conducted by a Special Investigation Team constituted from out of the CID (Crime) Gujarat.

Bhatt is serving life imprisonment after his conviction in a 1990 case of custodial torture.

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