The odds are stacking up against suspended IPS officer and anti-Modi crusader Sanjiv Bhatt.
Now, the Gujarat high court has refused to quash a custodial torture case against him that dates back to 1998. A court in Porbandar has been directed to finish the trial within a year.
As the superintendent of police in Porbandar, Bhatt had allegedly tortured one Naran Jadav to extract a confession in a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) case. Jadav had complained that Bhatt had administered electric shocks to him, his minor son and brother in custody.
A magisterial inquiry held there was a prima facie case against Bhatt.
Bhatt had sought quashing of the criminal complaint.
But in his order, Justice MR Shah noted, “This is not a fit case to exercise the powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to quash and set aside the impugned complaint against the applicant (Bhatt).”
The officer is already facing another atrocity case in which one person had died in 1990. Back then, Bhatt was assistant superintendent of police in Jamjodhpur. The charges in the case are likely to be framed on January 13.