The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed three petitions filed by former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeking production of additional evidence in the alleged drug planting case trial.
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.
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 judge orally asked, how could the trial be stayed when there was never a stay?
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.
In February this year, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea filed by the sacked IPS officer challenging a January 2023 Gujarat High Court order, which extended the time to complete the trial till March 31, 2023.
The Supreme Court had termed the plea to be ‘frivolous’ and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Bhatt.
Bhatt is known for being a vocal critic of the Narendra Modi-led government.
Prior to his dismissal from service, he had filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court alleging that the Modi-led Gujarat government had a complicit role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
He was dismissed from service by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 2015 on the grounds of unauthorised absence from service.