A division bench of the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday upheld the life sentence and murder conviction of former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and police constable Pravinsinh Zala in a 1990 case of alleged custodial torture and death.
Bhatt and Zala had appealed against a Jamnagar sessions court’s June 2019 verdict that had sentenced both to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The bench of Justices A J Shastri and Sandeep Bhatt, reading aloud the operative part of the verdict in open court on Tuesday, held, “We have gone through the reasoning recorded by trial court while convicting the concerned accused persons for offences punishable under IPC section 302…From the evidence placed on record, we are of the opinion that the trial court has rightly convicted accused…for offences under IPC section 302.”
Bhatt, who was the additional superintendent of police in the Jamnagar district in 1990, and Zala were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Jamnagar sessions court in June 2019.
Seven policemen were on trial in this case of which Bhatt and Zala were found guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (1) (punishment for offence of criminal intimidation). The two policemen found guilty were sentenced to life while five others were sentenced to two years of imprisonment. While the district court had also framed charges under IPC Section 114 (abettor present when offence is committed), none of the seven who were on trial was found guilty of this charge.
Then police constables Pravinsinh Jadeja, Anopsinh Jethva and Kesubha Dolubha Jadeja and police sub-inspectors Shailesh Pandya and Dipakkumar Bhagwandas Shah were all found guilty of custodial torture under IPC sections 323 and 506 (1). The court sentenced all five to one year of imprisonment under IPC Section 323 and two years of imprisonment under Section 506 (1).
The state had also filed an appeal before the Gujarat High Court, challenging the trial court’s acquittal of the five accused of murder charges.
The division bench of the Gujarat High Court dismissed the state’s appeal as well on Tuesday, recording, “In view of the aforesaid discussion and overall critical analyses of evidence has led us only to one conclusion that even the appeals filed by the state against the order of acquittal require no acceptance. Accordingly we dismiss the appeal filed by the state as well.”
The bench additionally cancelled the bail bonds of the five accused who were out on bail. Zala and Bhatt are already serving their sentences in jail.
A detailed order is yet to be made public and is expected later this week, the court indicated.
The case dates back to 1990 when Bhatt was posted as the additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar. He had detained around 133 people under the rigid Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) Act during a communal riot in Jamjodhpur town.
The riot had broken out following an announcement of Bharat bandh by the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in protest against the arrest on October 30, 1990, of the then BJP national president L K Advani, who was leading the rath yatra from Somnath for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
On November 18, 1990, one of the persons detained, Prabhudas Vaishnani, died in a hospital after he was released from custody, allegedly due to torture while he was in custody. A complaint of custodial death was registered against seven policemen, including Bhatt, by Amrutlal Vaishnani, the brother of the deceased, following which the investigation was transferred to the state CID branch in Gandhinagar.
In his complaint, Amrutlal alleged that the detainees were beaten up with sticks and rifle butts, made to do sit-ups, crawl on elbows and were not allowed to drink water. Amrutlal had said that the torture and lack of water caused kidney problems for Prabhudas, thereby leading to his death.
The post-mortem report of the deceased had stated that the cause of death was due to stress and damage to the kidney.
The case so far
A Jamnagar sessions court sentenced Bhatt, who was the additional superintendent of police in the Jamnagar district in 1990, in June 2019. Then police constable Pravinsinh Zala too was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Seven policemen, including Bhatt, were on trial in this case of which two were found guilty under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (1) (punishment for offence of criminal intimidation). The two policemen found guilty were sentenced to life while five others were sentenced to two years of imprisonment. While the district court had also framed charges under IPC Section 114 (abettor present when offence is committed), none of the seven who were on trial was found guilty of this charge.
Apart from Bhatt and Zala, then police constables Pravinsinh Jadeja, Anopsinh Jethva and Kesubha Dolubha Jadeja and police sub-inspectors Shailesh Pandya and Dipakkumar Bhagwandas Shah were all found guilty of custodial torture under IPC sections 323 and 506 (1). The court sentenced all five to one year of imprisonment under IPC Section 323 and two years of imprisonment under Section 506 (1).
All seven have appealed against the conviction. Bhatt and Zala are also seeking suspension of their sentences before the Gujarat High Court.
The bench of Justices A J Shastri and Sandeep Bhatt are due to pronounce the verdict on Tuesday.
The incident
The case dates back to 1990 when Bhatt was posted as the additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar. He had detained around 133 people under the rigid Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) Act during a communal riot in Jamjodhpur town.
The riot had broken out following an announcement of Bharat bandh by the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in protest against the arrest on October 30, 1990, of the then BJP national president L K Advani, who was leading the rath yatra from Somnath for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Due to the bandh call, the then Jamnagar superintendent of police T S Bisht had sent Bhatt with reinforcements to Jamjodhpur to contain the communally charged situation.
On November 18, 1990, one of the persons detained, Prabhudas Vaishnani, died in a hospital after he was released from custody, allegedly due to torture while he was in custody. A complaint of custodial death was registered against seven policemen, including Bhatt, by Amrutlal Vaishnani, the brother of the deceased, following which the investigation was transferred to the state CID branch in Gandhinagar.
In his complaint, Vaishnani alleged that the detainees were beaten up with sticks and rifle butts, made to do sit-ups, crawl on elbows and were not allowed to drink water. Vaishnani had stated that the torture and lack of water caused kidney problems for Prabhudas, thereby leading to his death on the morning of November 18. The post-mortem report of the deceased had stated that the cause of death was due to stress and damage to the kidney.
In 1995, the CID investigating officer requested sanction from the government to prosecute Bhatt as is required for the prosecution of a government officer when on duty. However, the sanction was not granted by the government.
Owing to the non-grant of the sanction, the CID had filed a summary report, that is a closure report, in the court. However, the court rejected this report in December 1995 and instead took cognisance of offences alleged against Bhatt and six others.
An A-summary report was filed in this case in 1995 after the state government refused to grant sanction for prosecuting Bhatt. However, after Bhatt’s deposition in relation to the 2002 communal riots before the Nanavati and the Mehta commissions between May and July 2011, the state government withdrew protection granted to Bhatt and the Jamnagar court began framing charges soon after.
Seven policemen, including Sanjiv Bhatt, were on trial in this case of which two were found guilty. (Express file photo by Javed Raja) 
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