Bombay High Court stays Sachin Waze’s bail in Antilia explosives, Mansukh Hiran murder case

Former Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze will remain in custody after the Bombay High Court on Wednesday stayed the bail granted to him a day earlier in the explosives and Mansukh Hiran murder caseA bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale issued notice to Waze and granted an adinterim stay on the special NIA courtrsquos September 29 bail order The NIArsquos challenge will be heard on October 7 Wazersquos bail formalities had not been completed when the High Court passed its order He therefore remains in jailWhy the NIA challenged itThe NIA argued that the special court had erred in granting bail and disputed its findings on the UAPA charges The special court in its 33page order had held that there was sufficient material to frame charges but that the material required a closer assessment at the bail stage It questioned whether the incident met the threshold of a ldquoterrorist actrdquo under the UAPAThe family statement issueThe special court had noted that no family member of the industrialist had given a statement during the investigation to show that they had been terrorised by the explosivesladen SUV The NIA disputed this before the HC pointing out that statements of security personnel stationed outside the house of industrialist had been recorded The distinction is important the special courtrsquos observation concerned family members of the industrialist not security personnelWhat the special court had saidThe trial court had questioned whether the incident amounted to a terrorist act under Section 15 of the UAPA and said there was no material showing that the industrialist and his family had been terrorised It also considered the prosecutionrsquos reliance on a shop salesman who said he was ldquoshockedrdquo after subsequently learning about the explosives The court noted that his statement was recorded about six months after the incident The court had also distinguished between the standard for framing charges and the standard for deciding bail saying the latter required a closer assessment of the materialHiran murder separate issueThe special court had found that Mansukh Hiran died a homicidal death but treated the murder allegation separately from the alleged terrorist act Evidence against Waze in the murder case was described as circumstantial The court also noted that accused Pradeep Sharma and Sunil Mane whom the NIA attributed more direct roles in the alleged killing had already been granted bail This gave Waze ldquoat least some extent of parityrdquo for his bail pleaHow the matter moved between benchesThe case was initially listed before Justices Sarang V Kotwal and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale on September 29 The bench recorded that one judge would not take up matters where the parties were represented by senior counsel Manoj Mohite following which the matter was removed from the board On September 30 it was placed before Justices Bharati Dangre and Ashish S ChavanOne of the judges recused from the proceedings Following the recusal the Chief Justice assigned the matter administratively to Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale When the present bench took up the matter Wazersquos lawyers were not present The court recorded that they had been informed that the matter would be heard at 1230 pmAfter hearing the NIA and perusing the September 29 bail order the bench granted an adinterim stay The court also directed the NIA to place a convenient compilation of relevant documents on record including the chargeframing orders and charge sheetNIA caseThe agency has alleged that Waze was part of the conspiracy behind the explosivesladen SUV and Hiranrsquos killing It has alleged that Hiran was murdered after refusing to take responsibility for the vehicleCase backdropFebruary 25 2021An SUV containing 20 gelatin sticks and a threat note was found near industrialistrsquos residenceMarch 5 2021Businessman Mansukh Hiran was found dead in a creek in MumbraMarch 13 2021Waze was arrested by the NIABail granted then stayedSeptember 29Special NIA court grants bail NIA moves Bombay HC seeking adinterim staySeptember 30Justices Girish Kulkarni Neela Gokhale take up the case and stay the bail orderSeptember 30HC stays the bail and directs that the order be conveyed to jail authoritiesOctober 7NIArsquos challenge listed for further hearing