SC to hear Sanjiv Bhatt's petition seeking sentence suspension on Jan 27

The Supreme Court on Friday said that it will hear the petition filed by former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Sanjiv Bhatt, seeking suspension of his life imprisonment jail sentence on January 27.

A three-judge bench of the Apex Court, comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, M R Shah, and R Subhash Reddy was hearing the petitioner filed by Bhatt seeking suspension of his punishment in connection with the 1990 custodial death case.

"We will hear the matter on January 27," the bench said.

The lawyer connected to the case sought an adjournment on Friday, as instructing counsel was not present in the Apex Court. As a result, the matter has been for hearing to a different date.

"The Gujarat High Court ought to have appreciated that the trial court did not consider evidence of court witness P P Pandey, Investigating Officer, then SP, CID Crime, Ahmedabad, who recorded the statement of different police officers, clearly indicating no beating or ill-treatment of the arrested accused," Bhatt stated in his plea.

Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment for his alleged involvement in the custodial death of a Jamjodhpur resident, Prabhudas Vaishn in November 1990.

Bhatt, in his Special Leave Petition (SLP), claimed in his petition before the Supreme Court that there was a "political vendetta", against him, and further said that the charges were framed against him without proper sanction from the state government.

( With inputs from ANI )