High Court Cancels Ex-Cop Sachin Waze Bail In Mumbai Bomb Scare Case

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday cancelled the bail of ex-cop Sachin Waze in the Antilia bomb scare with stern remarks that there was strong prima facie material linking him to terrorist acts intended to threaten India's economic security and strike terror in the minds of citizens.A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale said there was prima facie material against Waze showing his complicity in the 2021 case.The court allowed the appeal filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the case, against a special court order granting bail to the former Assistant Police Inspector (API)."The impugned order is quashed and set aside," the high court said.Waze, a key accused in the 2021 Antilia bomb scare and killing of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, was granted bail by the special court in September.The NIA immediately moved the HC and sought an urgent stay on the order. The HC had then granted an interim stay on the bail due to which Waze, booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), continued to remain lodged at the Thane Central Prison.On February 25, 2021, an SUV packed with explosives was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence, 'Antilia', in south Mumbai. Businessman Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV before it was allegedly stolen, was found dead in a creek in neighbouring Thane city on March 5, 2021.The probe agency alleged that Waze, who was then an API with the Mumbai crime branch, himself parked the explosives-laden SUV as part of a conspiracy. Waze was arrested by the NIA on March 13, 2021, in the combined case of the Antilia bomb scare and Hiran's killing.The HC, in its order, said Waze's actions were clearly intended against a prominent industrialist family, who as per the prosecution, plays a significant role in the country's economic development, considering that their large industrial empire contributes to the national growth.Prima facie, Waze's intention was to threaten the security and more particularly, the economic security of India, the court noted."We may observe that there is no scope for any citizen and that too a person in uniform, who is supposed to act as a protector of the rights of the citizens, to indulge in such activities," the HC said.No citizen of this country much less an industrialist of repute, as in the present case who is contributing to the nation and its economy, can suffer even a remotest threat of a terror, it added.The court noted that the case made out against the dismissed police officer by the NIA was of terrorist acts."There is prima facie material indicating an act intended to threaten the unity, integrity and security, including 'economic security', of the country, and intended to strike terror, among a certain section of the people in the country," the HC said in the judgment.The bench expressed its "profound concern" in the "casual manner" in which the sessions court dealt with the bail proceedings and also the remarks made by it in its order granting bail to Waze.The lower court had questioned the NIA for not recording the statements of any members of the Ambani family and asked if it was waiting for any "Muhurat" (auspicious time) to do so.There is "strong prima facie" material to link Waze to the offences he has been booked under, the high court said.It also took note of the fact that Waze was reinstated in service after being suspended for 16 years and thereafter he was eager to redeem and resurrect himself as a 'super cop' and pursue his activities.The HC said Waze wanted to create terror in the minds of common citizens and also the Ambani family and then be a super cop and step in to offer his protection to rich industrialists and gradually extort money from them."This entire scheme, albeit it appears akin to something on the celluloid, nevertheless, the consequences of such action amount to commission of serious crimes," the HC said.It added that Waze exploited his position as a police officer by "unleashing a reign of terror in the society at large, aimed towards the family of a prominent industrialist".The HC further noted that Waze had a clout among several highly influential persons.After Waze's arrest in the Antilia bomb scare and Hiran killing case, he was made an accused in a corruption case being probed by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED). The former police officer has already been granted bail in the corruption case.The special court, while granting bail to Waze in the Antilia case, had said the NIA failed to establish a prima facie case of terrorism under the stringent UAPA law against him, and that there was no evidence on record to prove Ambani's family was terrorised by his alleged act.The NIA, in its appeal, sought the HC to quash the special court order, terming it as "illegal and bad in law" and, by way of interim relief, sought for it to be stayed.The central agency had further claimed that the special court was "totally wrong" in granting relief to the dismissed cop as he intended to create terror and was also accused of murder. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)