The Supreme Court today refused to quash proceedings against suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a 21-year-old alleged custodial death case.

A bench of justices B S Chauhan and T S Thakur refused to grant any relief to the Gujarat-cadre officer against the state high court's order, which had dismissed his plea for quashing of criminal proceedings related to the case pending against him in a Jamnagar court.

The custodial death case dates back to 1990 when Bhatt was posted as additional superintendent of police in Jamnagar. He had detained around 150 persons during a communal riot in Jam Jodhpur town. One of those arrested, Prabhudas Vaishnani, had died in a hospital after his release.

Vaishnani's brother had then lodged an FIR against Bhatt and six other police officials accusing them of killing his sibling by torturing him in detention.