Delhi HC to examine ex-cop Sachin Vaze's plea

Delhi HC to examine ex-cop Sachin Vaze's plea

FPJ BureauUpdated: Friday, March 04, 2022, 09:01 AM IST
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Sachin Vaze | PTI

The Delhi High Court said yesterday that it will examine whether an order by the Central government granting sanction for prosecution of an accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) can be challenged.

The high court was hearing a plea by former Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze challenging the sanction granted to prosecute him under the UAPA in connection with the Antilia bomb scare case.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anoop Kumar Mendiratta also asked the Centre's counsel to address it on the issue as to “whether an order granting sanction rendered by the Central government under UAPA can be challenged per se and if yes, where such a challenge to the sanction order would be maintained”.

The court granted two weeks to Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi to file submissions and judgments in response to Waze's plea seeking to place on record some facts and additional documents. The court also heard Lekhi and senior advocate Puneet Bali, representing Waze, on the issue of whether the Delhi High Court has territorial jurisdiction over the matter.

The Centre has raised preliminary objections to the maintainability of Waze's petition on the ground that it should have been filed before Bombay High Court as everything related to the case happened in Mumbai. The Centre's counsel said if the arguments of the petitioner's counsel are accepted then every challenge to the sanction granted under the provisions of the UAPA will come to Delhi.

However, the former officer has submitted that under the law, there is a provision of a review committee looking into the matter before passing the sanction order and that committee also sits in Delhi. The court listed the matter for further hearing on April 1. Waze's counsel has submitted that only the Delhi High Court will have the territorial jurisdiction as he was challenging the sanction order of September 2, 2021, passed by the Central government.

He had said it does not make any difference that the FIR was registered in Mumbai and trial will be conducted in Mumbai. “The documents were sent by the investigating agency to Delhi.

I am not challenging anything done by the Mumbai Police or NIA. I am challenging the sanction order passed by the Central government in Delhi,” he argued.

Waze's counsel had earlier submitted that the Delhi High Court has territorial jurisdiction over the issue as the sanction order was passed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is located in the national capital. The plea, filed through advocate Chaitanya Sharma, sought to strike downsection 15(1) of the UAPA, relating to the terrorist act, claiming that it is ultra vires of Article 14 (equality before law) and 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the constitution. It also sought to quash and set aside the sanction order of September 2, 2021, passed by the Centre and grant consequential reliefs.

The MHA had given the sanction for prosecution of Waze in September last year in the case of an SUV with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house in Mumbai and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran .

According to a release of NIA, the charge sheet was filed under various provisions of the IPC,including murder, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, and negligent conduct concerning explosive substances and under the provisions of the UAPA, Explosive Substances Act, and Arms Act.

The SUV was found near Antilia on February 25, 2021. Mansukh, who had claimed that the vehicle had been stolen from his possession, was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5 last year.

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