A Gujarat court has awarded 20-year imprisonment to former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Indian Penal Code for his alleged involvement in the 1996 drug-planting case.
The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge JN Thakkar at Palanpur in Banaskantha on Thursday.
The court found him guilty under NDPS sections 21(c), 27A (punishment for financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders) and also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him.
He was also found guilty under Sections 465 (Forgery), 471 (using forged document), 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 204 (secrets or destroys any document), 343 (wrongful confinement), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intent) of the Indian Penal Code 1860.
The case arose from the arrest of a Rajasthan-based lawyer in 1996 by the Basankantha Police after drug was seized from the Advocate’s hotel room in Palanpur, Rajasthan.
Bhatt was the Superintendent of Police at Basankantha during the relevant time. However later, the Rajasthan Police claimed that Bhatt’s team had lodged a false case and that the same was done only to harass the lawyer with regard to a property dispute. Bhatt was arrested in the case in September 2018 and has remained in jail since then.
He was dismissed from service by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 2015 on the grounds of unauthorised absence from service.
Earlier on August 24, the High Court of Gujarat had refused to quash the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against Bhatt in the 27-year-old drug planting case.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Samir Dave rejected the application filed by Bhatt to quash the FIR lodged against him. The judge further refused to stay the effect of the instant order or stay the trial proceedings for a month, despite a request by Bhatt’s counsel.
The former government officer then moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to produce additional evidence in the alleged drug planting case trial.
On October 3, 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed all three petitions filed by the former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
The Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath further imposed a cost of Rs one lakh each on the petitions filed by Bhatt, noting that the former cop has been ‘repeatedly approaching’ the Courts.
Appearing for Bhatt, Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat requested the Apex Court to reduce the costs.
However, the Bench refused to accept the request and directed the former government official to deposit the amount with the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association.