On Tuesday, October 3, the Supreme Court slapped cost of Rs 3 lakhs on disgraced former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt for filing multiple appeals in connection with a narcotics planting case against him. Sanjiv Bhatt was arrested on July 12, 2022, for falsifying evidence in the Gujarat riot case.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Rajesh Bindal ruled that Bhatt had repeatedly filed petitions and imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh for each of the three pleas filed by Bhatt. “How many times have you been to the Supreme Court? At least a dozen times? Last time Justice Gavai imposed ₹10k costs? This time 6 figures? Are you withdrawing? Justice Gavai was kind,” said Justice Vikram Nath while dismissing the plea.
The Court directed that the costs be paid to the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association. The bench was considering the former disgraced officer’s appeals against an August 24 Gujarat High Court judgment that had denied his application, expressing concerns about the fairness of the trial court judge hearing the drug planting case filed against him.
Bhatt’s request for the relocation of the trial was denied by single-judge bench of Justice Samir Dave, who also declined to delay the order’s effect or the trial procedures for a month.
That motion was submitted in response to the trial court’s decision to dismiss three applications previously filed by Bhatt regarding the conduct of the trial processes in the case registered against him under the Narcotics, Drugs, and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act).
Among these applications were requests that Bhatt be granted videoconference access to trial court hearings and that the trial court correct specific remarks made in an interim order.
Bhatt stated that these applications were denied because they were addressed while dismissing a motion to transfer the trial court proceedings. Against this environment, Bhatt expressed worries about the trial judge’s fairness and impartiality. Bhatt claimed that the trial judge had accommodated “disingenuous devilments” by the prosecution, jeopardizing the defense’s case and Bhatt’s rights in the NDPS case.
During today’s hearing, Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, who represented Bhatt, contended that Bhatt had just requested audio-video recordings and that this was not a crime. He also objected to the High Court’s observation that Bhatt was delaying the trial. The bench was also hearing Bhatt’s request for audio and video recordings of the trial sessions.
However, the Court dismissed the petition saying that Bhatt had repeatedly applied before the top court. “Dismissed with costs of Rs 1 lakh each for the three cases. He has been approaching the court with the best of lawyers, certainly, he can do something for the Gujarat advocates,” the Court noted.
The disgraced former IPS officer was also arrested on July 12, 2022, for falsifying evidence in the Gujarat riot case. Notably, when Sanjiv Bhatt was arrested by the Crime Branch of Gujarat Police in the Gujarat Riots case, he was already lodged in jail in connection with a custodial death in 1990. A Jamnagar Sessions Court had sentenced him to life imprisonment.