Bombay HC dismisses Sachin Waze’s habeas corpus petition in Antilia bomb scare case | Mumbai News – The Times of India
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by the incarcerated former Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze, who alleged his arrest and custody were “unlawful” and sought his release in the Antilia bomb scare case.
A division bench, comprising Justices Sarang Kotwal and SM Modak, dismissed Waze’s petition. The reasoned judgment will be available later.
The police in Mumbai found 20 gelatin sticks in a car parked outside a building on Carmichael Road near Antilia in south Mumbai on February 25, 2021. On March 5, the dead body of Mansukh Hiran, a businessperson, was found in Mumbra Creek, and a murder case was registered. In both cases, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Waze on March 13, 2021.
Waze, dismissed from service and lodged at Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai, through his lawyer Rounak Naik challenged his arrest, continued custody, and sought his release.
He said the provision of law under section 309 of the erstwhile Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was violated with no separate order of his custody, beyond 15 days, for each adjournment, being passed as mandated. His petition cited an Allahabad HC judgment that allowed a habeas corpus plea and released one petitioner over the ‘absence of the warrant of remand as mandated under section 309(2) of CrPC.’
Waze claimed that his arrest in the case was “illegal” because the procedure governing arrests and custody was flouted. He is charged under the anti-terror law—UAPA—for a terrorist act, conspiracy, and also for attempting to cause an explosion, all offences that attract life sentences.
NIA counsel Sandesh Patill sought dismissal of Waze’s petition after citing a Supreme Court ruling that said when an accused is remanded to custody by a court order, a plea for a habeas corpus writ is not maintainable.
