Mumbai, 30

Sept (HS): The Bombay High Court on Wednesday stayed till October 7 the bail

granted by a special court to dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze, who has

been in jail for over five years in connection with the planting of an explosives-laden

SUV outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's south Mumbai residence 'Antilia' and

the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had

challenged the special court's bail order in the High Court. The petition was

heard before a bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Justice Neela Gokhale.

After briefly hearing the NIA and noting that no one appeared for Vaze, the

bench posted the matter for further hearing on October 7. The court allowed the

NIA's plea to stay the bail order passed by the Special Court till then. Earlier,

2 benches of the High Court had recused themselves from hearing the case citing

their inability to hear it.

Meanwhile, Special Judge Chakor S Baviskar, had

raised questions about invoking of terror charges under the Unlawful Activities

Prevention Act (UAPA) in the case. The court had also noted a major lacuna in

the prosecution's argument that the purpose of planting the explosives-laden

SUV near Ambani's residence was to cause terror. The special court pointed out

that no statement of any member of the Ambani family had been recorded in the

case. The court had said that the prosecution had not made a convincing

argument as to in whose direction Vaze wanted to strike terror. The court also

observed that even assuming that the Ambani family had been targeted, there was

not enough basis to believe that they had actually been terrorised.

The special court had also noted that no statement

of any member of the Ambani family or their close associate had been recorded

under Sections 161 or 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court had come

down heavily on the NIA for its failure to investigate the victims. The court

had termed the non-registration of the statements of the Ambani family as a

serious issue questioning the credibility of the investigating

agency. According to the NIA's allegations, Vaze had parked an explosives-laden

SUV near Ambani's residence to extort ransom and regain his reputation. The

businessman in the case, Mansukh Hiren, was subsequently murdered. The

investigating agency has alleged that Hiren was killed because he refused to

take responsibility for the explosives.

While the special court accepted that Hiren was

murdered, it concluded that the murder was not a direct result of a terrorist

act. Citing that co-accused in the case, former police officers Pradeep Sharma

and Sunil Mane, have already been granted bail, the court said the principle of

equality needs to be considered in Vaze's case as well. Vaze has been in jail

since his arrest in March 2021. A special court had granted him bail in the

case. However, his release has been delayed due to the interim order of the

High Court.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Ajay Vasant Mardikar