Sanjiv Bhatt, Whistleblower Against PM Modi, Found Guilty in Gujarat Court; Sentencing Pending
A Sessions court in Palanpur, Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, handed down a conviction to former IPS officer and whistleblower Sanjiv Bhatt in the 1996 drug-planting case on Wednesday. The court is set to announce the sentence on Thursday.
Bhatt, known for his whistleblowing against Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the 2002 Gujarat genocide, is currently serving a life sentence following his conviction in a 1990 case involving custodial torture. Critics of Modi have decried the legal actions against Bhatt as politically motivated.
The conviction stems from Bhatt’s involvement in falsely implicating a lawyer from Rajasthan, alleging that police seized drugs from a hotel room in Palanpur where the lawyer was staying in 1996. At the time, Bhatt held the position of superintendent of police in Banaskantha district until his dismissal from the Indian Police Service in 2015.
IB Vyas, an inspector with the local crime branch in Palanpur, was also implicated in the case. In 2021, Vyas became a witness for the prosecution.
Additional sessions judge JN Thakkar found Bhatt guilty of various charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985, including financing illicit activities, abetment, criminal conspiracy, and wrongful search and seizure.
The district police, under Bhatt’s leadership, arrested Rajasthan lawyer Sumersingh Rajpurohit under the NDPS Act in 1996, alleging drug possession in a hotel room. However, later investigations by the Rajasthan police revealed that Rajpurohit was falsely accused by the Banaskantha police in order to coerce him into transferring a disputed property.
In August 2023, the Gujarat High Court rejected Bhatt’s plea to transfer his trial in the 1996 drug-planting case to a court in Banaskantha district.
Bhatt had previously claimed to have attended a meeting where Modi allegedly instructed top police officials to allow Hindus to express their anger against Muslims. However, a Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India found no evidence to support Bhatt’s claims and dismissed them.
Critics argue that the legal proceedings against Bhatt are politically motivated, given his history as a whistleblower against powerful figures.
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