High Court reserves order on Sanjiv Bhatt plea

The order came in the wake of a complaint lodged by one Naran Sudha alias Naran Jadav.

In July 1997,Jadav was arrested along with a number of persons in an alleged terror conspiracy whereby the Porbandar police had claimed recovery of weapons and ammunition from the accused. The offence in this regard was registered at the Kamalbaug police station. The accused were facing various charges,including sedition under the provisions of IPC,Arms Act,Explosive Substances Act and Terrorist & Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act,1987.

On his production before the court of a Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) after being arrested by the Porbandar police,Jadav had given a written complaint and alleged that Bhatt — the then Porbandar SP — and others had tortured him by giving electric shocks in custody.

Based on this,the concerned magisterial court had ordered an inquiry and subsequently ordered criminal process against Bhatt and others.

In March 2003,Bhatt had moved an application to discharge him of the charges,which was rejected by the court.

In December 2010,Bhatt moved the HC to get the criminal process against him quashed while contending that the process is a protracted one as even nearly 11 years after its initiation the prosecution has not produced evidence against him. He also contended that even otherwise the mandatory sanction to initiate prosecution against him was not taken. Bhatt also alleged that Jadav was a habitual offender and his complaint was a fallout of vengeance.

The government has opposed the application saying the said act of Bhatt to subject an accused to custodial torture cannot be called an act in discharge of official duty and therefore there was no need to have sanction of the government to prosecute him.