The Bombay High Court has placed an interim stay on Sachin Waze’s bail in the Antilia explosives and Mansukh Hiren murder cases, keeping the dismissed police officer in jail after the National Investigation Agency challenged the special court’s order. The High Court’s intervention came a day after the NIA special court granted Waze bail with stringent conditions following his prolonged incarceration.
A bench comprising Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Neela Gokhale heard the NIA’s appeal on Wednesday. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the agency, argued that the special court’s bail order contained inconsistencies and had failed to consider important facts in the case.
The NIA specifically referred to statements recorded from security personnel deployed outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai residence, Antilia. After hearing the agency’s submissions, the High Court stayed the operation of the bail order. Waze will therefore remain in custody while the challenge to the special court’s decision proceeds.
The case relates to three interconnected first information reports registered in February 2021. On 25 February that year, a Scorpio was found parked outside Antilia with 20 gelatin sticks and a threat letter. The vehicle belonged to Thane businessman Mansukh Hiren, who had reported it stolen several days earlier.
Hiren went missing on 4 March 2021, and his body was recovered from a creek in Thane the following day. A separate case was registered after his wife complained about his death. The three matters were subsequently transferred to the NIA for investigation by the central government. The agency arrested Waze in March 2021.
While granting bail, the special court relied on the length of Waze’s incarceration and observed that the case record did not contain material showing that the Ambani family had been put in a state of terror. It also noted that there was no material indicating that the family’s daily activities had been affected, according to the report on the order.
The High Court’s interim stay means the special court’s bail decision cannot take effect at present. The NIA’s challenge will next be heard on 7 October.
