Sun Dec 08 04:52:42 UTC 2024: ## Gujarat Court Acquits Former IPS Officer Sanjiv Bhatt in Custodial Torture Case

**Porbandar, Gujarat, December 8, 2024** – A Gujarat court has acquitted former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a 1997 custodial torture case. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Mukesh Pandya delivered the verdict on Saturday, citing insufficient evidence to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. The case, registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to causing grievous hurt to obtain a confession, stemmed from a complaint by Naran Jadav, an accused in a 1994 arms landing case. Jadav alleged that Bhatt, then Superintendent of Police of Porbandar, subjected him to torture while in custody.

The court noted that the prosecution failed to demonstrate that Jadav was forced to confess through the use of dangerous weapons and threats. Furthermore, the court highlighted the absence of the necessary sanction to prosecute Bhatt, a public servant at the time of the alleged offense.

This acquittal comes as Bhatt is already serving a life sentence for a 1990 custodial death case in Jamnagar and a 20-year sentence for a 1996 case involving planting drugs to frame a lawyer in Palanpur. He remains an accused in a separate case related to the 2002 Gujarat riots. Bhatt’s past actions, including filing an affidavit alleging then Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s involvement in the riots (allegations subsequently refuted), have made him a controversial figure in Indian politics. He was dismissed from police service in 2015 for unauthorized absence. Bhatt is currently lodged in Rajkot Central Jail.

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