The Supreme Court of India has declined to grant relief to former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, refusing to suspend the 20 year prison sentence he is currently serving in connection with a 1996 drug planting case. Bhatt had approached the Court with the hope that his sentence would be put on hold while his appeal is being considered, but the bench was not convinced that the circumstances justified such an intervention.
A division bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi heard the matter and ultimately chose not to interfere with the lower courts findings or the Gujarat High Courts earlier refusal to suspend the sentence. During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Bhatt, attempted to persuade the Court that his client had already spent more than seven years in custody and that this period should weigh in favour of granting suspension of sentence. Sibal also argued that the case did not involve what the law classifies as a commercial quantity of narcotic substance, suggesting that the severity of the punishment should be reassessed in light of this fact.
The bench, however, was not persuaded. The judges specifically noted that the quantity of drugs involved in the alleged planting was substantial enough to be treated seriously, and this factor was a significant reason for their unwillingness to suspend the sentence. The Court emphasized that the nature of the offence and the evidence leading to the conviction could not be overlooked simply because the convict had already undergone a portion of the sentence.
This development follows an earlier decision by the Gujarat High Court, which had denied Bhatt similar relief. The High Court had underlined that offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act demand strict scrutiny, particularly because the Act reverses the usual presumption of innocence after a conviction has been secured. It had also stressed that the seriousness of the allegations, combined with the findings of the trial court, made suspension of sentence inappropriate.
Bhatt’s conviction dates back to March 2024, when a sessions court in Palanpur found him guilty of planting narcotics on a private individual nearly three decades earlier. The court held him responsible under multiple provisions of both the NDPS Act and the Indian Penal Code, imposing a punishment of 20 years imprisonment along with a fine. The case had been a longstanding one, resurfacing over the years due to its political undertones and the seniority of the officer involved.
Despite the arguments presented on his behalf, the Supreme Courts refusal to suspend the sentence means that Bhatt will continue to remain in prison while the legal process surrounding his appeal continues. The matter is expected to be taken up for further hearing as part of the regular appellate process, but for now, the conviction and sentence ordered by the trial court stand firm, reinforced by both the High Court and the Supreme Court.
The decision marks another significant chapter in a case that has stretched across decades and has repeatedly drawn public attention due to the nature of the allegations and the position Bhatt once held within the police force. For the moment, the ruling ensures that he will remain incarcerated as the courts continue examining the merits of his appeal.
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