Daijiworld Media Network - Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad, Mar 27: Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has been found guilty in the 1996 drug seizure case by a special court in Palanpur, Ahmedabad. The case pertains to Bhatt's alleged framing of a lawyer in a narcotics case during his tenure as district superintendent of police.
The special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court convicted Bhatt and has reserved its decision on the quantum of sentence, which is expected to be announced on Friday. The prosecution has sought the maximum punishment of 20 years as prescribed under relevant sections of the NDPS act.
According to prosecution lawyers, Bhatt has been convicted under various sections of the NDPS Act, including 21(c), 27A, 29, and 58(1) and (2), along with several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) such as forgery, using forged documents, criminal conspiracy, and wrongful confinement.
The case revolves around Bhatt's alleged involvement in framing Sumer Singh Rajpurohit, a lawyer from Rajasthan, in a narcotics case by planting drugs in a Palanpur hotel room. This was purportedly part of a conspiracy to vacate property in Rajasthan's Pali district, belonging to a relative of a sitting judge of the Gujarat High Court at the time.
The investigation into the case was initiated by the Gujarat CID (crime) following a Gujarat High Court order in 2018. Bhatt was arrested on September 5, 2018, and has been in custody since then. He was also earlier sentenced to life imprisonment in a custodial death case in Jamnagar.
Bhatt's plea for relief based on the closure of the case by local police in 2000 was dismissed by the court. One of the co-accused policemen, I B Vyas, turned approver against Bhatt in the case.
Presently, Bhatt is being held at Palanpur jail awaiting further legal proceedings.