Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday put off the hearing on bail plea of dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze for a week even as the accused questioned the application of provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against him in the Antilia bomb scare case and businessman Mansukh Hiran’s death.
Waze, in his plea, has sought immediate release pending hearing of the petition.
While moving the bail application before a division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande, senior counsel Aabad Ponda, appearing as a defence advocate for Waze, informed the court that UAPA provisions were wrongly invoked in the case and that the National Investigation Agency had begun its probe even before the Act was applied in the case.
After hearing the plea, the court asked NIA to file a reply and adjourned the hearing for a week.
Ponda earlier said, "The provisions of UAPA cannot be applied in cases all and sundry. This is just a case of gelatin recovered outside someone's residence in Mumbai. There was no terror caused."
Waze, who is in jail, filed a written bail plea containing 185 pages.
The court took note of the size of the bail plea and said, "Is this a petition or a thesis? It has quoted Oscar Wilde and all. This seems like a thesis for a PhD."
Replying to this, Advocate Ponda said that the accused is in jail with nothing to do but this.
On February 25, 2021, an explosives-laden SUV was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence 'Antilia' in south Mumbai.
The NIA's case is that Waze, in conspiracy with other accused, parked the explosives-laden SUV owned by businessman Mansukh Hiran.
When Hiran later said he would reveal the truth, the accused allegedly killed him, as per NIA. Hiran, who said he was in possession of the SUV before it was allegedly stolen, was found dead in a creek in neighbouring Thane on March 5, 2021.