The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail application of former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who is serving a life sentence for his role in a 1990 custodial death case. Bhatt was convicted for the death of Prabhudas Vaishnani, who died after being detained during a communal riot in Gujarat's Jamjodhpur town.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta stated there was no merit in Bhatt's plea, and refused to suspend his sentence. "We are not inclined to grant Sanjiv Bhatt bail. The prayer for bail is dismissed. The hearing of the appeal shall proceed expeditiously," Justice Nath said during the verdict.

Bhatt, who has appealed his conviction and life sentence, had approached the Supreme Court in 2024 after the Gujarat High Court upheld his conviction on January 9, 2024. The high court also dismissed the state government’s plea to increase the sentences of five other accused who were acquitted of murder charges but convicted for causing hurt and criminal intimidation.

In 1990, Bhatt, then an additional superintendent of police, detained around 150 people following communal unrest. Vaishnani, one of those detained, died in hospital after his release. His brother accused Bhatt and other officers of torturing him during custody, which led to his death.

Bhatt was arrested in 2018 in connection with another case involving the false implication of an individual in a drug possession charge. He is also an accused in a case related to the alleged fabrication of evidence during the 2002 Gujarat riots, along with activist Teesta Setalvad and former Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar.