Justice Denied: The Fight for Sanjiv Bhatt and the Battle Against False Convictions

Hindus for Human Rights urges the Palanpur sessions Court to reverse its  cruel and unjust decision to sentence ex Indian Police Officer and Whistle-blower Mr. Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years rigorous imprisonment. This sentence is in addition to a life sentence, under trumped up charges in a 28-year-old drug planting case of 1996. This verdict is egregious, given that Mr. Bhatt was never party to the case and the case was duly investigated and stayed by the Supreme Court of India in 2000 due to a lack of evidence. 

This is the second time that Mr. Bhatt has been falsely framed and convicted with excessive punishment because of his testimony implicating then Chief Minister Narendra Modi in orchestrating the 2002 Gujarat Pogrom. 

Following the submission of his affidavit in the court against Modi in 2011, Mr. Bhatt was immediately suspended from duty and in 2015, a few months after Modi became the Prime Minister, Mr Bhatt was dismissed from duty under allegations of being absent from duty for the days he was deposing before various court appointed forums. During those depositions, Mr. Bhatt was providing evidence about Modi’s role in orchestrating the Gujarat Pogrom. In 2018, Mr Bhatt’s house was bulldozed, his security was withdrawn, and he was taken away under the pretext of questioning him in a 28-year-old case. He was subsequently put under  arbitrary arrest. While the State kept Mr Bhatt occupied with the 1996 case, in his absence, in 2019, the State expeditiously tried him in Jamnagar and sentenced him to life imprisonment for a fabricated case of custodial death of  a man he never arrested and who died 18 days after being out of custody.Mr Bhatt was falsely framed for this tragedy, and convicted under trumped up charges. 

Leading civil rights activists and organizations, including us, have stood in unwavering support of Mr Bhatt’s appeals in the Supreme Court for bail and against his wrongful convictions. Then, and now, we maintain that his conviction in the alleged custodial death case and alleged drug planting case were politically motivated as both convictions were meted out without giving substantive proof in a fair trial. 

Mr Bhatt’s persecution became even more glaring in 2022, when the Indian Supreme Court dismissed a petition submitted by Mrs Zakia Jafri, widow of former M.P. Mr Ehsam Jafri, appealing the Supreme Court to reinvestigate the clean chit given to Modi and the complicit role of the SIT in the cover up in Modi’s and State administrations complicity in the 2002 Gujarat pogroms. Amit Shah to further protect Modi then alleged that Setalvad, former Director General of Police (D.G.) RB Sreekumar, and former Inspector General of police (I.G.) Sanjiv Bhatt had fabricated evidence. Hours later, Setalvad and Sreekumar were arrested, and Bhatt was transferred to jail in Gujarat. 

Hindus for Human Rights stands in unwavering solidarity with Sanjiv Bhatt, his loved ones, and all victims of the Hindu nationalist violence in Gujarat in 2002, perpetrated at Modi's behest.

We call upon the Indian judiciary to rectify this gross miscarriage of justice and to uphold the principles of fairness and truth. Sanjiv Bhatt deserves justice, and his unwavering spirit will continue to inspire all those who seek truth and accountability.