The Supreme Court of India has scheduled a bail hearing for Bhatt on January 22.
Sanjiv Bhatt an Alma mater of IIT Bombay is a former Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat-cadre.
 
He is known for his role in filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India against the then Chief Minister of the Government of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, concerning Modi’s alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
 
After Narendra Modi become PM of India In 2015, Bhatt was removed from the police service, on the ground of “unauthorised absence”.
 
Bhatt contacted Pratibha Patil, the Indian President, in April 2012.
 
In that Bhatt sought a probe against Modi. He has requested the centre to appoint two member commission to enquire the role and conduct of Modi, his officials and police officers in the Godhra massacre. He also demanded an investigation into the government’s measures on the rehabilitation for victims
 
In October 2015, the Supreme Court quashed Bhatt’s plea for constituting a special investigation team (SIT) for cases filed against him by Gujarat Government.
 
The court lifted a stay on his trial in these cases and asked him to face prosecution.
 
In this purview Several civil rights activists and organizations from India and the US on Monday urged the Supreme Court to give bail to former police officer Sanjiv Bhatt.

At a virtual press conference organized by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Hindus for Human Rights, the organizations and activists argued that conviction of Bhatt in a murder case was wrong and based on fraudulent evidence.

Senior Congress leader and former minister Shashi Tharoor said he was “outraged by the injustice meted out” to Bhatt, whose “conscientious service to society” and “indomitable capacity for speaking truth to power” had put him in jail.
 
“Sanjiv’s case is a reflection of the grim times that we live in, where constitutional values and fundamental privileges that have been granted by the constitution to all Indians appear in many cases to be diluted and in many cases perhaps even supplanted by illiberal forces,” Tharoor said.
 
“All Indians with a conscience like Sanjiv Bhatt’s must stand up and fight back against such challenges that threaten to undermine the very foundation of our republic,” he said.
 
Renowned documentary filmmaker and human rights defender Anand Patwardhan said Bhatt had been jailed “for no other reason than the fact that he opposed the massacre in 2002” and spoke against it.
 
Patwardhan said the civil society “should build a movement for Bhatt’s release”.
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#FreeSanjivBhatt hash tag generated in Facebook and Twitter by thousands of Indians and support for his long denied bail on the rise ..

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Human rights activist, classical dancer and actor Mallika Sarabhai said there was a “definite agenda” not only in Bhatt’s case but in most cases of most critics of the Modi government.
 
“If anyone speaks against the government or asks a question, which is a fundamental right of our democracy, they are somehow punished.
 
Raids are carried out against them, false cases are brought up, fraudulent charges are made, and they are made to silence,” Sarabhai alleged.
 
Supports pour in Socal media for release of IPS officer Bhatt who been denied bail for long tenure