A special court in Mumbai has granted bail to dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, arrested in the Antilia bomb scare case, noting that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) failed to show that the Ambanis were terrorised. The court added that Waze had undergone a minimum five-year sentence, and material on record was “not sufficient to reject bail plea.”

The special court also observed that Waze’s act “prima facie falls short to satisfy the definition of a terrorist act under Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)”.

“There is absolutely nothing on record even to infer by any stretch of imagination that the Ambanis or any one of them were ever terrorised in any manner” and that the “facts appear otherwise,” Special Judge Chakor S Baviskar said.

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“Day-to-day business of the Ambanis does not appear to have been disturbed even for a minute,” the court added.

The special court designated under the NIA Act observed that Sachin Waze “made out a prima facie case” to grant bail due to considerable time in prison and the trial being “unlikely to conclude in the near future.” It said bail refusal would cause “great prejudice” to the “personal liberty” of Waze.

“No one knows which muhurat (auspicious time) the investigating agency is waiting for to record the statement of any of the targets of the alleged terror, after such a long gap of 3-4 years has already lapsed after the incident of parking of the explosive-laden SUV,” the order reads.

Noting the distance between Shikharkunj building, where the SUV was parked, and Antilia, the court said, “The distance between these two spots is considerable and there are many other buildings in between. Hence, even the threat to the alleged target does not carry that much weight so as to create terror in their or anyone’s mind.”

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Waze has been in custody since 2021 and was booked for offences, including murder, criminal conspiracy, and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with provisions of the UAPA and the Arms Act. NIA has alleged that Waze parked the SUV outside Antilia and was also involved in the plot to kill the vehicle owner, Mansukh Hiran.

It also held that Mansukh Hiran’s murder “at this moment does not appear to be a direct outcome of any terrorist act” and was independent of UAPA offences, meaning the stringent bail restrictions under the Act would not apply.