Police officers produce former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt at Metropolitan Magistrate Court in connection with 2002 riots case, in Ahmedabad, Wednesday, July 13, 2022.
Credit: PTI Photo
Ahmedabad: In a breather for jailed ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, a court in Porbandar acquitted him from the case of custodial torture of a notorious history-sheeter on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Additional chief judicial magistrate, Porbandar, Mukesh V Pandya pronounced the judgement on Saturday acquitting Bhatt from the case. The other accused Vajubhai Chau was abated from the trial following his death earlier this year during the pendency.
The court said that "following the discussion based on evidence, the prosecution couldn't prove the allegations against the accused beyond reasonable doubt." And, therefore, the court ordered the acquittal of the accused.
Bhatt, the then district superintendent of police, Porbandar, and Chau who was a constable, were accused of custodial torture of a notorious history-sheeter Naran Jadav Postariya alias Sudha in connection with a TADA [Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act] case. Jadav was among the 22 accused facing charges in the 1994 RDX landing case from Pakistan to Porbandar coast.
Bhatt and Chau were booked under section 330 (causing hurt to extort confession), 324 (causing hurt with dangerous weapon) among other charges for torturing Jadav to elicit a confession.
Jadav was facing dozens of criminal cases. Back then in 1997, according to details, he was brought to Porbandar from Sabarmati Central Jail on transfer warrant for interrogation.
The court stated that although the complainant and the witnesses have alleged that the accused gave him electric shocks, the evidence produced in the record doesn't prove those allegations.
Jadav had alleged that he was stripped of his pants and given electric shocks at private parts, tongue, and chest among other parts of the body.
At the time of the commission of the offense, the accused were government servants, and nothing has been put on record suggesting that government's permission was taken before prosecuting them, the court has said, the court found.
Bhatt has been behind bars since 2018 after his arrest for framing a lawyer in a narcotics case. Earlier this year, he was convicted in this case and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
In 2019, Bhatt was found guilty in a custodial death case in Jamnagar and sentenced to life imprisonment.