THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Dec 11: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected former IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt’s petition seeking suspension of a 20-year sentence in a 1996 drug seizure case.
A bench comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi delivered the verdict. The case dates back to when a sessions court in Palanpur, Banaskantha district, Gujarat, sentenced Bhatt to 20 years in prison.
Bhatt, who was dismissed from service in 2015, was serving as Superintendent of Police in Banaskantha in 1996.
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In 1996, the police had arrested Rajasthan lawyer Sumersingh Rajpurohit after seizing narcotics from a hotel room in Palanpur where he was staying.
Later, the Rajasthan police alleged that Rajpurohit had been framed by the Banaskantha police. Former Police Inspector I.B. Vyas had petitioned the Gujarat High Court in 1999 seeking an investigation into the case.
Years later, in 2018, the state CID arrested Bhatt in connection with the case. Since then, he has been serving his sentence at the Palanpur sub-jail.
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In 2024, Bhatt filed a petition in the Supreme Court requesting the transfer of the nearly 28-year-old case to another sessions court, alleging bias in the current court.
The Supreme Court dismissed Bhatt’s plea and imposed a fine of ₹3 lakh for making allegations of bias against the lower court judge.
