Today Palanpur Sessions court of Gujarat sentenced former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail term in 1996 case relating to planting of drugs to frame a Rajasthan-based lawyer. In its 700-pages verdict, the court, convicted Bhatt yesterday, said the former police officer misused his position and power.
Bhatt is already sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1990 Jamnagar custodial death case, a punishment upheld by Gujarat High Court this January. The Palanpur court in Banaskantha ordered that 2 jail terms will run consecutively, which means the 20-year sentence will start after the end of the life sentence. Bhatt was held guilty of falsely involving Rajasthan based lawyer in 1996 by claiming that police had seized drugs from his hotel room in Palanpur. Bhatt was then serving as Banaskantha SP Superintendent of Police.
